Harry Potter and the Quest for a Soul
by Gryffindor777
Summary: Complete! Seventh Year at Hogwarts. I attempt to stay relatively faithful to canon, and to keep everyone in character, while still having a unique plot of my own. RHr HG. Please read and review.
1. Return to the Dursleys'

Disclaimer: Do I _look _like J.K. Rowling? (The answer is, "No, you look like a computer screen who just told a very lame joke.") I do have some spoilers from her sixth book in this story though, so if you haven't read it, turn off your computer and all other appliances which might distract you until you've done so.

A/N: All right... Not surprisingly, HBP left some extremely glaring loose-ends of the type that I would much rather not wait two years to see resolved. So I have determined instead to write my own version of Harry's seventh year so as to achieve some early resolution and hopefully entertain some of my fellow Harry Potter fans (None of whom, of course, are actually obsessed with the series. Of course not.) So, anyone who's got me on their author alerts list because they want to see when my next parody comes out, this is most definitely not it, although I quite hope it will be worth the read anyway, and I do hope there will be some funny parts in it. So, without further ado, I introduce this relatively long first chapter of what now appears will be a 30 chapter story, although this is, as of yet, the only chapter which has technically been written.

Chapter 1:

Return to the Dursleys

The ride back to London on the Hogwarts Express started out quite awkwardly, which Harry was doubly annoyed about considering that he wasn't even sure there was any point in him taking the journey back to Platform 9 & 3/4. He had sent a letter by owl post to Uncle Vernon on the previous evening, but was not quite sure whether the letter would arrive at the Dursley's house in time for him to know Harry was coming, whether Vernon would open the letter when it arrived even if he did get it in time (considering how opposed he had always been to the very concept of owls that carried mail), or whether Vernon would condescend to come to the station on short notice even if he did find out that he was supposed to.

Admittedly, Harry realized that it wasn't completely reasonable to expect Uncle Vernon to drop whatever plans he might have for that day (it was a Thursday, so Vernon probably had to work) to come and pick him up, especially considering that it was common knowledge how little Harry was wanted in that house in the first place. But as bad terms as Harry was on with the Ministry of Magic at the moment, he still did not consider it to be wise to break their laws if he could help it, so rather than simply apparating to the Dursleys', he would take the train back to see if his uncle was waiting for him in London. He was quite sure that he would be able to apparate there if he needed to, even though he had not yet passed his apparition test, because he had apparated, carrying Dumbledore side-along, under quite a lot more pressure only days before.

But Harry had pushed that thought out of his mind as soon as it came, considering that the thought of Dumbledore's death still caused him a good deal of sadness. And quite apart from the sadness was the feeling of apprehension that thinking of Dumbledore's death was starting to bring along with it as well. The thought that a wizard as powerful as Dumbledore could be killed brought home the feeling of how vulnerable every person was to death.

Worse, Harry remembered that Dumbledore had not faced death cheerfully at all. He had actually pleaded with his murderer, Snape. It was a thought that Harry was having quite a hard time pushing out of his mind. Harry had put a great deal of thought into the way Dumbledore had pleaded when he saw Snape, when he must have been realizing that he was about to pay for the gravest error he had committed in his long life: trusting Snape, the Slytherin, the Potions' Master, the Half-Blood, the killer. The previous night, when Harry had been lying awake, thinking about Dumbledore's approaching funeral, he was puzzling over the way that Dumbledore had faced death. Dumbledore, who had once told Harry that death could be regarded as simply the next adventure, had been unwilling to face his own death. After much thought, Harry had decided that the reason Dumbledore had been so unwilling to die was not for his own sake, but for the safety of those around him. Level-headed and modest as Dumbledore usually was (even his occasional mentionings of his own intellect, which might seem at first glance to be cases of bragging, were actually quite understated in the final analysis), he undoubtedly realized how important he was to the continued existence of the Order of the Phoenix, Hogwarts, and the Wizarding World as he hoped it to remain.

And indeed, that was exactly what made Harry most nervous about Dumbledore's death. How would the Order carry on in hte absence of Dumbledore? Would they be able to keep their heads about them? Would the war start to go even worse than it had before Dumbledore's death? Would they scatter in the absence of a leader?

But those questions will be answered later in the course of this narrative, which has incidentally strayed quite far away from the description of the awkward nature of the beginning of the train-ride which had been mentioned at its outset. So, for the moment, the topic shall return to explaining just exactly why Harry felt so awkward. The reason was that as he, Hermione, and Ron found a compartment (Ron and Hermione had been excused from their prefect duty of patrolling the corridor because several teachers had ridden the train back, for security purposes, and they were patrolling the corridor in the prefects' stead), the one they walked into was occupied by Ginny Weasley. And after having informed Ginny only earlier that day that they would no longer be able to have a relationship, he did not want to be in the same room with her, lest she try to convince him to back down on his pronouncement, which he was quite sure was the only way to keep her safe.

It was quite bad enough that Ron and Hermione seemed to be so insistent about staying at his side through what promised to be his most difficult and dangerous adventure yet, he was not going to allow Ginny to risk her neck any more than was necessary. As he stood there, frozen for a moment of the threshold, he frowned as he reflected upon his choice of the words "allow Ginny." It seemed quite odd to Harry that he presumed to be in a position to "allow" Ginny to do anything. In fact, he was quite surprised that there hadn't been more of an argument about his choice to stop seeing her. But, she had listed, hadn't she? It seemed that Ginny understood what Harry needed from her, and was therefore willing to stand aside.

This willingness further manifested itself in what happened when Ginny noticed Harry standing uncertainly on the threshold after Ron and Hermione had entered the compartment. As Hermione and Ron sat down, Ginny stood from her seat, and said simply, "Yes, well, I suppose you want me to leave, then?" before sweeping out of the room. She had said it quite evenly, been quite calm about it, but once again, as he took a seat across from Ron and Hermione in their now-private compartment, Harry got the feeling that the encounter had been far to easy. He suspected that there would be more argument from Ginny at some point in the future, but for now Harry was quite content to wait for that encounter as long he could. He knew he would have to stand his ground on this matter, but was quite afraid that doing so might hurt Ginny, because he felt that even now, she was holding out hope as she formulated an argument no doubt engineered to convince Harry that he was wrong. He thought Ginny would be happier for as long as she believed that, even if Harry himself knew that he would stand firm in his position. Thus, he wished that she would not argue with him soon, but would continue avoiding him for a good long while.

After Ginny left, Ron looked curiously at Harry, seemingly intent to ask exactly what that had been about, but Hermione nudged him, and he fell silent. Harry had not yet told Ron and Hermione his decision about ending his relationship with Ginny, although it seemed Hermione had already picked up on the new situation. Harry was quite grateful that she was also smart enough to know that he would not want to talk about it.

She changed the subject. "So, will there be enough room in your Uncle's car for the two of us?" she asked.

"So you two still think you're coming with me to my aunt and uncle's house?" asked Harry with a slight smile on his face. After Dumbledore's funeral, they had seemed to intimate that they wanted to come with him, but he had rather taken this offer as more of a kind gesture than a serious plan of action.

"Yeah, Harry. We er... We don't think you should be alone right now," said Hermione tentatively.

"None of us should," said Ron. "But we sure as Hell can't let you stay at those horrible Muggle's house without any contact with the wizarding world. How long are you planning to stay there, by the way? Until you come of age?"

No, that's several weeks from now, and I don't think I could stand being there that long, with you two there or not, although I'm still not convinced they're going to let you stay there," answered Harry. "When's Bill and Fleur's wedding, by the way?"

"It's going to be on July 15th. Three weeks and two days from now," answered Ron.

"Well, then, since we'd have to leave to go to that anyway, we might as well not go back. The two weeks of Dumbledore's protection that I might lose out on that way won't make much of a difference, and from the way Dumbledore said it, I think part of the magic might stay in place until I reach 17 just so long as I get them to say that I could come back again if I wanted to," Harry said, ignoring the pang of grief that he felt when he mentioned Dumbledore's name.

They sat in silence for several moments. "you haven't answered my question yet," Hermione reminded him. "Will there be enough room in the Dursley's car for all of us to fit? I can apparate if necessary," said Hermione.

"So could I," said Ron defiantly, apparently disapproving of the fact that Hermione had called attention to the fact that she was the only one of the three who had her apparition license.

"Yes, but that'd be illegal," said Hermione. Then she smiled, "which means that we won't do it unless there isn't space for either of us." Ron seemed to approve of Hermione's ever-increasing willingness to break the Ministry's law. Such a willingness was not too surprising, considering that Hermione had realized since her fifth year at latest that the Ministry was made up of humans just like any other organization, and that lately, it seemed that the particular humans who made up the leadership of the Ministry were increasingly substandard in nature.

"Well..." Harry answered, "I'm not entirely sure Dursley will even show up. If he does, the car he drives is a 5 seater. But he might bring Petunia, as he has during the previous years, and he might bring Dudley along too. If so, Dudley's worth about two and a half people, so there probably wouldn't be room for any of us, but I'd be expected to squeeze in anyway. Still, Dudley may have some mischief planned in the neighborhood this afternoon, assuming that he's even home from his school, which I'm not sure of. In other words, I have absolutely no idea."

"I see," said Hermione.

"So. Fancy a game of Wizard's Chess, Harry?" asked Ron.

"Sure, I guess," said Harry. But he did not concentrate much on the game, nor did Ron, so that both of them were rather surprised when Ron's last castle was defeated by Harry's knight who then proceeded to checkmate the king.

The trio had been talking about things quite unrelated to wizards' chess while they had been playing, specifically what Harry planned to do about the Horcruxes now that Dumbledore was gone.

"Well..." the first step seems to be finding out who this R.A.B. chap is," said Harry. Hermione had looked as if she was about to say something to the effect of 'how do you know it's a chap?" but Harry continued. "That's the only way I can even know whether there's 3 Horcruxes left or 4. I'm not quite sure that any other wizard will have been able to destroy the Horcrux. Dumbledore himself nearly got killed when he was messing around with the first one, and that's Dumbledore. So they can't be easy to destroy," concluded Harry, who was still having a hard time saying the name. But he figured that it was important to discuss the Horcruxes, an the point that he had been trying to make about them was quite a necessary one, and Dumbledore's mistake seemed to be the best way to illustrate it. And Harry knew instinctively that it would not do to let his grief for Dumbledore get in the way of his mission. The mission that Dumbledore had inadvertently weakened himself for, resulting in his death. Harry once again clutched the locket which they had retrieved from the cave.

Harry felt that a change of conversation topic might be in order, so he said, "Do your parents know that you're coming with me?"

"I owled them just before we left school," said Hermione. "I'm sure they'll let me stay with you, though they won't like it. They understand that I'm of age now and everything. I would like to go back and stay with them for a couple of weeks though, if you're going to be at the Dursely's for three weeks."

"That's probably not a bad idea," said Harry. Then, anxious not to sound ungrateful of her company, he added, "I mean from the Dursley's perspective. They probably won't mind having as few magical guests at their house as they can manage. What about your mum, Ron. Will she be surprised when you don't turn up this afternoon?"

"Er... Not quite," said Ron, with a hesitant smile. "Actually, I'm here under Mum's orders. She says the ministry thinks you ought to have people staying with you. Aside from Hermione and me, there'll be some Order members headquartered at Arabella Figg's house. She agreed to that today."

"So, you're helping to baby-sit me then, eh?" asked Hary.

"No, of course not," said Ron hastily. "I'd've come to stay with you whether she told me to or not."

"It's okay, Ron," said Harry smiling. "I was just joking. I'll be glad for your company, no matter who's responsible for it."

Ron looked relieved.

A few minutes after Harry and Ron finished their chess match, Luna Lovegood walked dreamily into the compartment. Ron looked over at Harry, and then at Luna, seemingly about to ask her to leave, apparently under the impression that Harry wanted to be alone with Ron and Hermione, having still not completely understood the reason that Ginny had left the room when Harry had got there. But Harry preempted this request from Ron by saying, "Hello Luna. How are you?"

"I've been quite better, of course. It's a shame about Dumbledore. But I'm glad that they at least let us all attend the funeral," she said.

"Yeah, that was good. McGonnogal had suggested sending us all home immediately," said Harry. Then, after thinking for a moment, he asked, "Luna, are you going to come back to school in the fall? Will your father let you?"

"I think he shall. He normally lets me do what I want, anyway. Besides, he won't think the school's any less safe now than normally. He has a theory that Dumbledore did not make the school quite as safe as everybody else thought he did," she said. Harry opened his mouth in preparation to retort this theory, but Luna was already continuing. "It's one of the few things that I disagree with my father about, but it will at least be useful in securing permission to come back. Will you come back?" she asked.

"I won't," said Harry. "I've got other stuff to do." Obviously, he could not reveal the secret of the Horcruxes to Luna. He had not even told McGonnogal about them.

"Nor will I," said Ron, confidently.

"Nor I," said Hermione with some difficulty. It was quite plain that she was not at all pleased about this.

"Don't make that decision quite yet," advised Harry. "You may be able to be just as much help at school as outside it. And I'm not sure you'll even be able to help me."

Luna did not seem at all put off by the fact that Harry was obviously keeping something from her, but simply said, "I suppose that means there won't be a D.A. next year?"

"Actually," said Harry, "I think we ought to reinstate the group. We saw recently that there is still a need for the D.A. at school. I can't help but think that if we had had more regular meetings this year, more people might have been checking their coins and been able to answer Hermione's summons. And if they had, then maybe it would have been easier to defeat the Death-eaters. That's why I think that Ron and Hermione might be jumping the gun in assuming that they shouldn't return."

Ron seemed to consider this, and Hermione looked hopeful. The thread of the conversation changed to less serious subjects, Luna mentioning some article that had recently been featured in her father's magazine, and Ron finding it quite amusing to hear more details about it. Luna seemed quite grateful for the audience and went into some depth about the matter, as Hermione rolled her eyes. Harry found his mind wander, as it had done so often that year, to Ginny Weasley. He pictured the two of them flying around a Quidditch pitch together, laughing as they both chased after a golden Snitch. Harry felt a pang of sadness as he remembered the conversation that he had had with her earlier that day.

As the train pulled in to platform 9 & 3/4, Ron, Hermione, and Harry bade goodbye to Luna. As she left, Hermione had a bit of a sour look on her face. Ron detected it and said, 'Surely, you're not jealous of Luna Lovegood? Look, I was just curious about that article. I needed the break from reality."

Hermione considered this, then broke into a small smile. "No, of course I'm not jealous of Luna Lovegood. She certainly could use some friends, couldn't she?" asked Hermione.

"Yes, I think we should make a point to write to her a few times this summer," said Harry thoughtfully. Ron and Hermione nodded.

"Neville as well," added Hermione.

"I wonder if he'll be back?" asked Ron.

"I bet he will be," said Harry. "He'll want to, and I don't think that his Gran will stop him. From what he said of her reaction when he had come with us to the Ministry of Magic, she seems quite more keen for him to prove himself than for him to remain close to her."

The three of them searched the platform for Uncle Vernon, but did not find him. Tehy did, however, find Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, talking with the Grangers.

"Did you get my letter?" Hermione asked them tentatively.

"Yes," answered her mother. "We did. And while we shall not stop you from staying with Harry, we urge you to be careful. We understand," -here she gestured at the Weasleys- "that things are very dangerous right now. You're only staying with him while he's at his aunt and uncle's house, right?"

"Well..." said Hermione, keeping up her hesitant tone. "I was going to stay with him for a week, then come home for two weeks. Then, we'll stay with the Weasley's for a while. Then I was going to go with him to a place called Godric's Hollow. It's a small Wizarding enclave on the outskirts of a small village. We'll probably stay there for a little bit. And then... I might go back to school for my seventh year."

"Wait," interrupted Mrs. Weasley. "You're thinking of not going back to school next year?" I thought you were only going to stay with Harry this summer. That's all I had suggested."

"Mum... We haven't decided yet. We'll do whatever Harry needs us to do," said Ron.

Mrs. Weasley looked from her son to Harry, and nodded helplessly in a way that showed that, as much as she disliked the thought, she knew this situation was out of her hands.

"I've told them they should go back to school," said Harry quickly. "But they seem to be intent on accompanying me. I don't know enough yet to know whether that'll be useful, or even possible. So, it's not really decided yet."

"Wait... Where are you going?" asked Mr. Weasley.

"Er... I can't really tell you that," said Harry uncomfortably.

There was silence for a long moment.

"Look," said Mrs. Granger after a moment. "You can stay with Harry at his relatives' for the next week, and then you can stay with him at the Weasleys' when he goes there. But the rest of it, we'll discuss when you get home. We just came here to say goodbye, as we've already gotten your letter telling us you wouldn't be coming home."

Ron and Hermione both hugged and kissed their parents goodbye, then Mr. Weasley spoke up.

"We rather expected that you might not have transportation home, Harry," he said. "So we've arranged a Portkey to Mrs. Figg's house. You can get yourselves across the street in the muggle fashion, I'm sure, as it will be enough of a shock for the Dursley's to find that they have two additional summer guests, without them appearing out of thin air in their living room."

Harry agreed with this sentiment, but was still nervous about what the next few minutes might bring as he knocked on the Dursley's front door five minutes later.

Uncle Dursley opened the door and jumped slightly, obviously picking up right away that Ron and Hermione had more in common with Harry than their presence upon his doorstep, and apparently being made quite nervous by the fact that he now had three magical people on his doorstep.

"You are not welcome here," Vernon informed them, and Harry was irresistably reminded of the reception the Ministry of Magic agent had received at the House of Gaunt in the first memory Dumbledore had shown him that year. "Er... Well... You are," he motioned to Harry, " as we don't want that white-haired bloke showing up around hear again and telling us off. But you two..." he trailed off.

"The white haired bloke will not be showing up, as he is dead," said Ron irritably, "but we will be staying. We have quite convincing ways of making ourselves welcome."

Harry was rather surprised to hear Ron make such a threat like this, but was still rather glad that he had done it, as Harry did not feel in quite the mood to argue with his Uncle at that particular moment.

"You can't use magic outside of your freak school... Harry's told us so," Uncle Vernon countered angrily.

Ron took out his wand. "That'd be quite true, if I were underage. But I'm not. Hermione and I are both of age, and therefore are confined by no such restriction. Of course, we can still only curse a muggle in a case of self-defense, but if you did anything to try to make us leave, the anything we did would be self-defense."

But Ron ended up finishing this speech on the inside of the house rather than on the doorstep, where Vernon had grudgingly kept him to this point. The mere appearance of the wand had been enough to convince Vernon that this boy needed to be kept indoors where the neighbors could not see him.

"Well, we're certainly not letting you stay in the guest room," said Uncle Vernon with the air of someone trying desperately to prove that they were still in control of a situation despite copious evidence to the contrary. "We might end up having a guest whom we actually like, and we must keep the room clear for them."

"That's reasonable enough," said Hermione patiently, apparently unwilling to sink to the point of arguing with someone like Vernon Dursley. "Ron and Harry can sleep in Harry's room. Ron will kip on the floor, I've brought a rollout cot in my trunk. And I'll just sleep on your couch, if that's all right," she finished sweetly.

Uncle Vernon eyed her up for a moment, then nodded grudgingly, apparently quite unwilling to let himself be cursed by a seventeen year old girl if he lost his temper.

As Ron, Hermione, and Harry levitated their trunks up to Harry's room (Mr. Weasley having informed the Ministry that two Hogwarts students who were of age would be staying at Harry's house that summer and the Dursley's house consequently having been removed from the list of houses with underage wizards in it) and Vernon watched the display in terror, Harry smiled and reflected that if it were not for the task looming ahead on the horizon, this would be the best summer ever.

A/N: Right, so... Hadn't really expected the first chapter to last all that long. But, whatever. Hope you've liked it so far, and I hope you'll come back and look for future chapters, which should be up soon. I've actually got a rough plan for the story already (which is not necessarily my normal style: having a plan before I've written a story...). Also, reviews would be appreciated to tell me what I'm doing right and wrong. I want this story to be good, and therefore would much appreciate it if you tell me your opinion on this, and future, chapters. Thanks for reading!


	2. Bill and Fleur's Wedding

A/N: Nice! 19 reviews at last count. And some of them weren't even motivated out of a desire to inform me of spelling errors! Seriously, though, I appreciate the tips, and I apologize for how sloppy the last chapter looked before I put up the second version of it (which must've uploaded sometime this morning) even though I had spell-checked it, but managed to upload a partially un-spellchecked version due to my own occasional idiocy. So thanks to those of you who reviewed, especially those who told me something specifically that I was doing right or wrong. Elise… The contrived thought thing may actually be a pretty ingrained part of my style at the moment, but I'll try to work on it… If you have a chance, let me know whether this chapter's better or worse on that count, please. My favorite compliment (from two people, I believe…) has got to have been that I managed to keep the characters somewhat in character, and I just hope they'll stay that way. Well... You be the judge! Read on!

Chapter 2

Bill and Fleur's Wedding

The next three weeks were comparatively calm for Harry to an extent that he regarded them with a kind of "calm before the storm" mentality. And even though he was dreading what tasks the next year must hold for him, he could not help but enjoy being in the company of his two best friends. They were always entertaining in their interactions, and this entertainment did a good bit to allow Harry to be temporarily distracted from the rather morbid road ahead.

One of the most entertaining events came in the first week of the summer, before Hermione had left to go home to stay with her parents for the second and third week, when a letter came addressed to her by way of a handsome gray owl. When it arrived, Harry, Ron, and Hermione were enjoying a game of exploding snap in Harry's room (they were enjoying it doubly by imagining what it must be doing to Uncle Vernon on a psychological level to hear small magical explosions emanating from Harry's room and not be able to do anything about it) on the third morning of their break. The owl tapped impatiently on the window, and all three teenagers wondered aloud who the letter could have come from, especially since they knew that any really important messages from the Order would be delivered in person because all the Order members knew that their owls had a chance of being intercepted.

When Hermione saw that the letter was addressed to her, she went pink as she immediately recognized the handwriting. At first it seemed as if she wasn't even going to bother opening it with Ron in the room, but he gave her an angry look that told her that she was already going to have an argument with him, and therefore might as well have earned it. So, she opened the note. When Ron asked who it was from, she blushed even more, and answered, "Viktor Krum."

"What's he still writing you for?" asked Ron angrily.

But Hermione, blushing though she was, had apparently not lost her wits, as she responded, to Harry's great amusement, "I don't know Won-Won, would you like me to ask him for you?"

At the uttering of the nickname "Won-Won," Ron blanched, and Hermione knew that she had taken the argument into her control. "Er... No," replied Ron. "I'm sure he has his reasons. Hey, maybe you could get him to give us some tickets for a match sometime. You know how I like Viktor."

Hermione and Harry both laughed a little more raucously than was strictly appropriate, and Ron blushed more fiercely than Hermione had done. Yes, it was quite clear that, on the balance, Hermione was quite in control of her relationship with Ron. Not that they had admitted to Harry yet that they had a relationship at all, but Harry was quite sure that they were dating. Some mornings during the first week of the break, Harry would wake up and find that Ron was already out of the room. When he went out to the living room, he would find Hermione and Ron on the couch talking, with the Dursley's watching suspiciously from their kitchen over breakfast.

Harry suspected that Hermione was trying to spare his feelings by not appearing to brag about her own relationship with Ron when she knew quite well that Harry and Ginny had broken off their relationship. Harry wasn't quite sure whether Hermione had yet tipped Ron off to the state of Ginny and Harry's relationship, but figured that she had not necessarily done so, as it seemed that she would be quite capable of convincing Ron not to tell Harry even without divulging petty details of the plan of action, such as its purpose.

Harry was proven right about these suspicions one morning during the second week of break, after Hermione had been gone for two days, and two letters from Hermione arrived at the house. The first arrived with Pigwidgeon, and the second with Hedwig. However, Pigwidgeon, being rather less intelligent than the average owl, accidentally delivered his letter to Harry instead of his own owner, in spite of the fact that it was addressed to Ron. Respecting Ron's privacy, Harry did not open the letter, but did have time to register that the parchment was very tightly rolled and wrapped around itself several times, indicating that the letter was very long. When his own letter arrived, it was much shorter, and did not say much besides that Hermione hoped he was well, that she had not yet discovered who R.A.B. was although she was still searching through her books, and that she was quite looking forward to seeing Harry again in two weeks' time.

After finishing his own letter, Harry looked up with a grin toward Ron, who was still quite immersed in the task of reading his own letter. "You two aren't, er... going together by any chance, are you?" Harry asked, suspecting that he knew the answer already.

"Er... What? No, of course not!" said Ron.

This had been exactly the answer Harry had expected, even if he did know it was a lie. He grinned still wider, reflecting momentarily that Hermione and Ron were probably the only two people in the world who could still make him grin like that. And maybe Ginny as well, but he was trying not to think about her at the moment. He pushed that thought out of his mind and turned back to the humorous conversation at hand, "Look, Ron, you can tell me since I already know you are." He paused for a moment before adding, "You know, I won't tell her that you told me."

Ron considered Harry for a moment, and then broke into a grin of his own. "All right, fine. We're going together. And you can tell her I told you if you want, otherwise I will. I don't like keeping secrets from her. And that's not just because I wouldn't put it past her to learn Legilimancy either."

At that, Harry laughed out loud. "I hadn't even thought of that," confessed Harry.

"Anyway, though, it's good that you figured it out. I didn't like having to keep it from you. Besides, I couldn't figure out why she didn't want me to tell you, and she wouldn't clue me in. I knew you'd be happy for us. And now, you, me, Ginny, and Hermione can do things together again without it being awkward, since now Hermione and me are dating just like you and Ginny are," said Ron.

At that, Harry momentarily wished that he had not gotten Ron onto this topic. He sighed deeply and said, "Well, Ron... About that. Ginny and I aren't going together anymore."

Ron looked shocked for a second. "You're not going with Cho again, are you?" he asked, narrowing his eyes appraisingly at Harry.

This actually caused Harry to laugh again, despite his hesitancy to discuss the topic of Ginny with Ron. "No, of course not!" he laughed. "No... I just... With everything that's going on this year, I'm not going to have time for a girlfriend. And, besides, it'd be too dangerous. I've already got you and Hermione insisting on standing by me, I don't need to put anybody else at risk. Especially her," said Ron.

Ron stared at Harry for a few seconds, apparently slow to take it all in. "Ah. Well. Nice sentiment, anyway. Won't last long, though, I reckon. She really must like you, though... Otherwise she'd've bat-bogeyed you for suggesting that she couldn't take care of herself."

"I'm not going to let her convince me to back down, Ron," said Harry with a bit more force in his voice than he had expected. "I can't have a relationship with her right now."

"So, then, you made sure that she understood that this was only a temporary separation and that she shouldn't go off courting other boys?" asked Ron skeptically in a way that suggested he wouldn't entirely object to this reason for Ginny to stop seeing any boys for a while.

"It's up to her who she courts and doesn't court," said Harry, although he couldn't help but feel a pang of jealousy at the thought that even now Ginny might be writing a letter to Dean Thomas telling him that she wanted to get back together with him on the grounds that her new boyfriend was too busy out fighting Voldemort to be with her. "I might not be coming back, I can't make her wait for me."

"Well, I suspect she will anyway. She waited for you for damn near six years, didn't she?" asked Ron with an annoying sound of knowledgeable certainty in his voice.

Harry felt that he didn't want to stay on this topic any more, so he just stayed silent until Ron shifted ucomfortably from his seat on the floor and asked Harry for a game of Wizards' Chess.

The day of Bill and Fleur's wedding snuck up on Harry and Ron faster than they had expected it to. Before they knew it, the calendar declared that it was Friday, July 14th (Yes, Ron actually had a talking calendar, which Hermione had given him recently to make up for the fact that she hadn't gotten him anything for his 17th birthday. The calendar not only knew the date, but verbally reminded the owner of any appointments that he ought not to forget.) and that they should be making their way back to the Weasleys' house.

The two of them bade goodbye to the Dursleys, although Harry did make good on his plan to get them to say he could come back again if he wanted to before his 17th birthday. Granted, he wasn't completely sure whether this offer would count for the purposes of Dumbledore's magic, as Vernon had glanced at Ron, who was brandishing his wand in a rather persuasive manner, before agreeing. Either way, the two of them made their way across the street to Arabella Figg's house, and took the Floo network back to the Weasleys'.

Hermione was already back at the Burrow once they arrived, as were Bill, Fleur, Charlie, and the twins. Percy had not condescended to show up.

Mrs. Weasley seemed to be having a hard time looking at her youngest son, and every so often Harry heard her mutter something to Mr. Weasley about, "Why he insists on going out and risking his life."

Although there was a lot to do in the way of preparing for the next day's wedding, Mr. Weasley did have time for a quick word with Ron, Harry, and Hermione. "Look... I can't say that Molly's quite happy about what you guys are about to do. Or, about what she can discern of it, as none of you are telling what's going on. But, no matter how upset she is, I want you all to know that she's not nearly so upset as she would be if she didn't know that you guys are at least on the right side. Still, I just want to ask you all, for her sake as much as yours, be careful out there, will you?" It was the oldest that Harry had ever seen Mr. Weasley look, and that included some times when Mr. Weasley had come home from the Ministry very stressed out over some long hours.

Hermione looked sidelong at Harry, as if expecting him to answer. Ron did the same thing, in spite of the fact that it was his father they were talking to. Harry, who found that this conversation had made him much less cheerful than he had been over the past few weeks, nodded gravely. "Look, Mr. Weasley, I'm not looking to get anyone killed out there. At least, nobody on our side, anyway. We'll be careful, and although we're going to be doing some dangerous stuff, I'm sure we'll be able to handle it. I can't tell you anything more specific about what we're going to do, but you're going to have to trust me."

Arthur nodded back, and spoke, with some apparent difficulty at first, but his voice got stronger as he went on, "Of course I trust you, Harry. And, Harry, you're going to come of age in two weeks, feel free to call me Arthur. The same goes for you, Hermione."

Arthur went back over to Molly, who was working on the task of constructing a wedding cake from scratch, which was, apparently, quite a difficult task even when one was using magic. Hermione, Harry, and Ron were working on setting up chairs for the wedding, out on the lawn of the Burrow.

"So. What did your parents have to say about you coming with us to Godric's Hollow?" asked Ron.

"Oh, I thought I had put that it one of my letters," answered Hermione. "They told me I could do whatever I felt I needed to. Of course, they told me to be careful as well. They didn't seem too pleased about the whole arrangement, but seemed to understand just how powerless they were to do anything about it when they first saw me apparate into our living room. It was the first time they've seen me do anything quite that magical, as I haven't been allowed to do any real magic outside of school, except for those couple of spells that I tried before I came to Hogwarts. The apparition demonstration seemed to bring home for them just what a different world I was living in, and they knew they'd have to trust me to my own abilities. Not that I had planned it that way," Hermione claimed with an uncharacteristically mischevious smile.

"I think going with you has had a bad influence on her," Harry informed Ron with a grin.

From the speed with which the smiles disappeared off of both Ron and Hermione's faces at this pronouncement, Harry knew immediately that Ron had not yet told Hermione that Harry knew about their relationship. The next few minutes consequently included a humorously awkward explanation from Ron about just what Harry knew and exactly why he knew it.

However, that was not the only awkward moment that day, nor were the awkward moments confined to Hermione and Ron. Harry had a few uncomfortable moments when he had to dodge out of rooms where Ginny was sitting, or excuse himself from rooms into which Ginny walked.

In fact, he reflected after the seventeenth variation of this situation occurred at around six o' clock that evening, it was happening a lot more than might be reasonably expected. Almost as if Ginny was trying to force her presence on Harry.

Harry had been quite glad that Ginny had not clogged his post with angry letters while he had been staying at Uncle Vernon's (a fact for which Uncle Vernon, who was annoyed enough with the periodic notes from Hermione, was no doubt equally grateful for) but felt rather certain that he was going to have a lengthy conversation with her before he left the Weasleys', and was quite dreading it.

He managed to keep up his evasive maneuvers for the rest of Friday, and after a good night's sleep (the work on the wedding preparations that day had been quite exhausting), he woke up to the sound of Ron's magical calendar yelling, "It's July 15th and you really need to be in your dress-robes right now!"

"That gift's more annoying than it's giver," grumbled Ron as he rolled out of bed. "Don't tell her I said that, mate."

"Wouldn't dream of it," said Harry with a grin.

Two hours later, Harry was sitting next to Hermione in the second row of the chairs that they had set up the day before. Ginny, of course, was one of the bridesmaids for Fleur, along with Gabrielle, and Ron was one of the ushers for Bill, along with all the other Weasley brothers, excluding Percy, who had never showed.

The wedding was quite a jovial occasion and everything looked beautiful, excluding Bill's face, which still bore the improperly healed scars from where Fenrir Greyback had bitten him. His face seemed to serve as a silently mocking reminder that no matter how joyful an occasion they were celebrating, the world was a brutal, dangerous place. When this thought occurred to Harry, he shook his head, as if to clear it, and wished that he had properly learned Occlumency. And then he reflected that such a goal would have been much more easily accomplished if his teacher hadn't been a Death-eater. This line of thought, of course, once again brought back the emotions associated with Dumbledore's death; emotions of grief and fear that were always swimming just below the surface of his thoughts.

He shook his head once again as the old Ministry Wizard, who was fulfilling the customary role that a priest would assume in a muggle wedding, was advising anyone who had any objections to the marriage to speak now. Of course, nobody spoke, and soon, Bill and Fleur had kissed to seal the ceremony and the party made its way up to the Weasley's house.

As the celebration continued for several hours, Harry was having a hard time staying in the proper mood to be around cheerful people. He kept remembering that by this time the next day, he would be making his way to Godric's Hollow, a portkey to which had already been arranged by way of Arthur requesting it from the Ministry of Magic. It would have been impossible for Harry to apparate there because he didn't know enough about it to be able to properly concentrate on it, as was necessary for apparition. It didn't seem right to be cheerful when in less than 24 hours, he would be in the place where his parents had been killed, and where his most important journey would begin.

He snuck up to his and Ron's room at a point in the celebrations when he reckoned everyone was being too loud and jovial to miss him anyway. But, he couldn't help but notice, as he made his way out of the packed kitchen, where guests were picking up food before making their way to the equally crowded living-room or out on to the sunlit lawn, that there was one other person who did not seem to be quite as jovial as the rest. Ginny, he noticed, while not looking sad like he felt, did have a look of concentration on her face, as if she was trying to figure out the answer to a very difficult potions essay.

He passed her, hoping in vain that she would not notice him passing her to leave the room, and was not at all surprised when she opened the door to Ron's room several moments after he arrived there.

"You should've knocked you know," he said. "I could've been changing or something."

Ginny stuck out her tongue at him slyly, sitting down on the bed very near to him in a way that would have been pleasant under other circumstances, and said, "You wouldn't've let me in if I had knocked. Besides, I'm vaguely disappointed that you _weren't _changing, now you mention it."

"You know, you can be unbearable sometimes," said Harry, fighting hard to keep a grin off his face.

"So that's why you've broken up with me then, is it?" asked Ginny, doing a frighteningly accurate impression of a woman scorned.

"Ginny," said Harry, sighing in a way that he hoped would help him collect his patience and his nerves, "I've already told you why I need to stop seeing you."

"Oh, I'm so glad you brought that up," said Ginny, grinning again. "I was afraid that you might not want to talk about that. But now that you've mentioned it, well... I do have a few things I need to say about that." She looked expectantly at Harry, as if to gage whether he was about to interrupt her.

He sighed again, then said, quite reluctantly, "Well, I suppose you do deserve to say your bit, I'm sure you've been thinking about it for quite awhile. But you may not want to waste your breath. I won't budge."

"All right. First thing. If I understood correctly, one of the reasons that you want to distance yourself from me is that you think that Voldemort might use me as bait again, and hurt me in the process," said Ginny. Harry did not say anything. "At least nod or shake your head, would you?" she asked, with a trace of impatience in her voice.

"Oh, I hadn't realized that that was a question," said Harry, grinning slightly quite in spite of himself. Then, he wiped the smile from his face, answering, "Yes. That's the main reason."

"So, you're saying, I assume, that now that I'm not your girlfriend anymore, you wouldn't feel compelled to save me if Voldemort decided to kill me, eh?" asked Ginny, once again sticking her tongue out.

"Oh, Ginny- You know I would," said Harry, impatiently.

"But Voldemort couldn't possibly expect that, right?" asked Ginny, in a way which highlighted how ridiculous this opinion was.

"I suppose-" Harry didn't want to continue this conversation, knowing that he was already losing ground in the argument, and worse yet, starting to lose his resolve. But Ginny looked at him expectantly, and he continued, "I suppose that if you've figured it out, we can't put it past Voldemort to figure it out too. Especially as Snape knew we were dating, as did Malfoy, and they're probably both having a nice chat with him about it over tea right now." Harry and Ginny grinned at each other as they imagined the prospect of Voldemort, Snape, and Malfoy chatting together over tea. It was a tribute to their shared sense of humor that they could laugh about something as grim as their enemies plotting against them.

"So, what you're saying then, is- and bear in mind that I say this not to gloat, but simply to make sure I know where I stand- that your primary reason for wanting to stop seeing me, that of protecting me, has already fallen through the cracks?" asked Ginny, seemingly losing her resolve not to gloat as she stuck her tongue out for a third time.

"Fine. Fine, Ginny," said Harry, becoming impatient again. "You've proven that you're already quite in harm's way. That doesn't do much to make me feel better, but it still doesn't mean we can see each other. I've got a journey to make, and you can't come. I'm not even sure whether Hermione and Ron will be able to come. But you're not even of age, and your Mum would never let you come, nor would I."

"You know, if this relationship is going to work, you're going to have to stop trying to be so controlling," admonished Ginny, keeping her stern look for a full three seconds before bursting into laughter at the baffled expression on Harry's face.

"I've told you, there's no relationship!" said Harry, thinking that this was the closest he had ever come to hating Ginny, although at the same moment he couldn't help but think how nice her laugh sounded, and how pretty her smiling face looked.

"But you haven't said once that you don't want to have a relationship. And I don't think I'd believe it if you did," Ginny continued, as she saw Harry open his mouth as if to rectify this oversight.

Harry closed his eyes, gathering his thoughts. "Fine, Ginny. I won't lie to you, but only because I know you're too smart to believe me when I'm lying. I'd love to continue seeing you. But I won't be able to. At least... at least not until I get back from my journey."

"Fine, Harry," said Ginny. "I'd never ask you to put off your mission against Voldemort just for me. But I think that any time that we happen to be together anyway, we might as well act like boyfriend and girlfriend. And at the _very _least, we ought not to purposefully walk out of rooms that the other happens to be in." She paused, giving Harry a chance to blush slightly. "Because, Harry, I've got to say, you've been a bit of a selfish prat lately."

"I've what?" asked Harry, somewhat surprised at the accusation.

"Well, you know, at Dumbledore's funeral, you asked me how I thought you'd feel sitting at my funeral. Well... Harry, let's face it, it's at least equally as likely that you'll be the one in the casket," she said.

"Well, now. There's something I _hadn't _considered!" said Harry, rolling his eyes in a humorously dramatic way.

"And I want you to consider how I'd feel if I were sitting at _your _funeral knowing that I had passed up the opportunity to make your last few weeks or months as enjoyable as possible. And I know damn well that it hasn't made you happy to stop seeing me. And besides, I think it'd make your mission against Voldemort go a little bit easier if you know that your personal affairs are all in order. At least this way you won't be distracted from your mission by the thought of what might be going on between me and Dean Thomas. Now. I know that I won't be able to go with you to Godric's Hollow, my Mum'd have a right cow if both me and Ron were leaving. But at least until you leave, I think we should spend some time together. And promise me that next time I see you, you won't avoid me." All the laughter was gone from her voice now, and Harry understood this to be a command rather than a request.

This, of course, made Harry laugh, but he still said, "Fine, Ginny. You've convinced me. If you can stand the idea of having a boyfriend who's off fighting Voldemort, then I guess I can grace you with my company."

Ginny grinned once again, and said, "That's all I ask, Harry. And you can still send me owls, at least as long as it won't matter if they give away your location, and I think it'll be safe to communicate as long as you're in Godric's hollow, at least."

Harry was once again amused by the fact that Ginny seemed to be trying to take control of this situation, telling him what was and was not safe. But he had to admit that her argument was quite convincing. He should have known better than to try to protect Ginny Weasley. He laughed out loud at the thought, and Ginny laughed as well, as if he had voiced the joke out loud. He felt better than he had felt in weeks, and the feeling lasted throughout the rest of the wedding party, then into dusk as Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione sat and watched the sun set and the stars come out from the back yard.

Ginny had immediately told Hermione and Ron that she had brought Harry to his senses, and Hermione had smiled happily and hugged each of them in congratulations. Ron simply gave Harry a smugly knowing look before saying, "Wow. That was unexpected, mate," and chuckling.

As Harry laid in bed that night, he found himself relishing the memories of that day rather than dreading the long journey upon which he knew he must set out the next day.

A/N: All right. I hope that I didn't make that discussion between Harry and Ginny go too easily to be believable. I really wanted to do justice to this chapter, because I really want to convince myself (and anyone who's reading this) that Harry and Ginny are going to end up together in the end. Other than that, I hope that this chapter has been somewhat amusing and entertaining. The real plot of the story will begin to surface in the next chapter, so I hope that I haven't bored all my potential readers during this chapter. I think this chapter was necessary, for my own satisfaction as much as for the story, although I think it's important to the story as well. But I tried to make it entertaining anyway, so hopefully I've still got some readers waiting for the next chapter. Once again, I am quite open to constructive criticism for this chapter, or reviews of any kind (although blatant flames (by which i mean criticism which is not even disguised as being constructive) are discouraged). I personally think that 9,000 words in two days deserves a review. Especially if you've enjoyed any of those 9,000 words. Thanks for reading!


	3. Godric's Hollow

A/N: Okay, thanks again to all reviewers. One quick point: In the ending author's note of the previous chapter, I mention that I had intended that chapter to prove my point that Harry and Ginny would "be together in the end." One reviewer pointed out that this comment seems to imply that Harry will defeat Voldemort in this story. I just want to point out that this is not necessarily the case, as by "the end," I could mean the end of Harry's life, in which case Harry could die. I'm not saying he will, and I'm not saying he won't, I just wanted to clarify this so that any suspense which this story may be keeping you in can remain intact.

Chapter 3:

Godric's Hollow

"There are six Wizarding families who still live in Godric's Hollow, aside a rather larger population of muggles. There is a small forest running between the Muggle and Magical sections of the village, which generally allows wizards to apparate or take a portkey into their side without being noticed, although there have been quite a few cases in which muggles have had to have their memories modified. At any rate, the Shacklebolts are one of those families living in the village and have agreed to let the three of you lodge there without rent if you plan on staying there more than one day," Mrs. Weasley told Harry over breakfast the next morning, in a way which quite suggested that she wished Harry would just _tell her already _how long he and her son would be at Godric's Hollow, and where, precisely, he planned to take her son after that.

"And he also has kindly informed us that he will not ask you any awkward questions that you can't answer, such as where you're going to go next," chipped in Arthur, with a patient smile at his somewhat frustrated-looking wife.

"That may come in handy," said Harry. "Although if we stay with him, I certainly will insist on paying rent. It's bad enough you lot have never let me pay you for lodging."

"You could have paid me if you wanted," chirped Ginny helpfully as she entered the kitchen after coming down the stairs from her own room. "And I'm going to assume that you were about to wake me up at any moment knowing that I would want to wish you luck before you left."

"Of course I'd've woken you up before I left. I just thought maybe you could have used some extra sleep," replied Harry.

"I'll have plenty of time to sleep while your gone, I'm sure," Ginny registered with a small frown. "Although I still have a feeling that you're going to be back before embarking on your real journey. This isn't good-bye, I think."

At this point, Mrs. Weasley rounded on Ginny. "_You _don't know where they're going, do you?" she asked.

"No, I'm just going on a hunch," revealed Ginny, with her hands raised in an expression of innocence, as Ron and Hermione entered the kitchen. They had already eaten breakfast, having woken up before Harry, and had just gotten done packing satchels with a change of muggle clothing and some food for each of them, on Harry's suggestion.

"Are Fred and George up yet?" Harry inquired of the room in general.

"Did you think that we'd sleep in on a day like today?" asked Fred, as he and George entered the kitchen as well, (they had stayed at the Weasley's house last night after the party, rather than bothering to return immediately to Weasley's Wizards' Wheezes, where several of their employees were charged with keeping things under control).

"And miss this opportunity to bid farewell to the soon-to-be-conquering hero and his faithful lieges?" asked George.

"The recently elected Chosen One, his ever-blushing sidekick, and their beautiful muggle-born companion!" announced Fred.

"Nah. This morning, we decided to wish you goodbye. And maybe get your autographs. We have this strange feeling that you lot might be famous someday," George confided with a grin.

"Thanks, you two. I really needed a laugh this morning," said Harry, who returned the grin.

Bill and Fleur had already embarked on their Honeymoon, and so were not present, and Charlie had some pressing business to attend to involving dragons, and thus was not available either. The eight of them sat around the table, talking in a somewhat awkward manner (except for the twins, who never seemed to get awkward) until the conversation died out. Ron looked meaningfully at Harry, and said, raising his eyebrows somewhat nervously, "D'you reckon we should get going, then?"

Harry nodded slowly. He could understand why Ron should be nervous. Although they could not now guess exactly where it would lead, the three of them were looking on this trip to Godric's Hollow as the beginning of their most important adventure. And for Ron, of course, the beginning of this trip to Godric's Hollow marked the first time that he had ever made a large-scale life decision on his own. His mother had asked him to accompany Harry to his house, but she certainly hadn't asked him to embark on this leg of the journey. From this point out, Ron was traveling as his own man.

"Well, the Portkey's ready whenever you are. It's been set up to activate whenever touched, since we weren't sure when you guys were going to want to head out, and didn't want to rush you. There's not much traffic into Godric's Hollow anymore, so the Ministry doesn't much care to regulate Portkeys there too strictly," explained Mr. Weasley.

The assembled Weasleys accompanied Harry, Ron, and Hermione to their backyard, where a garbage can lid was waiting to carry them to Godric's Hollow.

"Good luck, you three," said Mr. Weasley, before they left.

"If you're going to be gone for more than a couple days, send us an owl," urged Mrs. Weasley. "And once you leave, let us know, whether you can tell us where you're going next or not, just so we know you're not still in Godric's Hollow."

"You three take care of yourselves," said Ginny, in a voice that somehow sounded much older than her own. "And Harry, I hope seeing your parents' graves gives you the closure you're looking for."

Harry was slightly disappointed that Ginny seemed to have decided that this occasion was too serious to joke about just now, but was not let down by Fred and George's parting comments.

"Look, guys..." started Fred gravely. "If you see any deatheaters... duck."

"And if you see You-Know-Who, make sure not to ask him to dance. He's a bit touchy about that," admonished George.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione each grinned as they prepared to grab the tin trashcan lid. As they reached out and grabbed it, just as they felt the jerking sensations behind their navels, they heard Fred and George call out in unison, "Wait! We've forgotten to get our autographs!"

"Number 3, Gryffindor Way," said Hermione moments later, glancing at the numbers hanging by the door of the house nearest to which they had just materialized. "This'll be the Shacklebolt residence then. Mr. Weasley reckoned they could give us directions on how to get to the place where your house was, and to the graveyard. Do you think we ought to stop in there first?"

"Can't see any harm in it," said Harry after he had glanced at his watch and discovered that it was already slightly past 11 o' clock in the morning. The Shacklebolts should be up and out of bed, at any rate.

When Harry knocked on the door (he was vaguely annoyed that the other two hung back from the door to allow him to be the one to knock on it, seemingly unwilling to pass up any opportunity to remind Harry that he was the leader of this little expedition), Kingsley Shacklebolt was the one who answered. He greeted the trio with a nod and said, "Come on in, then."

Having been gestured onward by Kingsley, Harry led the way into the Shacklebolts' sitting room and was vaguely surprised to encounter a four year old child holding a wand. "Expelliarmus!" shouted the child, prompting the wand to turn into a rubber goose. The child, undeterred, continued to point the goose at Harry, this time shouting, "Twiddlywink," a spell apparently of the child's own invention, which he performed, of course, with no more success than he had the Expelliarmus spell.

"And what might your name be?" asked Hermione kindly, as Ron and Harry both chuckled slightly at the apparently aspiring auror. The child, apparently deciding that he was uncomfortable receiving this much attention, bolted out of the room and down the hallway.

"He just loves his Weasley's Wizard Wheezes' wands," chortled a woman in an armchair who Harry assumed was Kingsley's wife, as she gestured toward the rubber-goose which the child had dropped on the floor. As they glanced at it, the goose turned back into a wand with an obnoxious 'pop!'

Kingsley entered the room, having fetched some tea for his guests, and said, "Harry, Ron, Hermione, this is my wife, Aurelia."

Aurelia immediately rose from the chair and shook each of their hands in turn. Harry was slightly surprised to see that Kingsley had a wife and a son and reflected upon how likely it was that one night Kingsley might fail to come home, having been killed in action. Harry reckoned that choosing to become an Auror was probably not the best choice of profession for a man who wanted to raise a family. Of course, then he realized that if he were an Auror, he would probably still want a family himself. A fleeting vision of Ginny in wedding robes danced across his mind before he was able to push it back out and focus on the situation at hand.

Because he reckoned it would be rude to ask Kingsley for directions to his parents' old house or to the graveyard immediately after entering his house, he made an ardent attempt at small talk for several minutes. Luckily, Kingsley quickly realized that Harry's heart was not in it, so he cut off his line of questioning to the trio about Bill and Fleur's wedding (which he had not been able to attend), and provided directions, first to the ruins of the old Potter house, and then to the graveyard at which they had been buried.

"A bit of a curiousity, that graveyard," explained Kingsley before the three teens departed. "It's one of the few wholly Wizarding graveyards in all of England. It's rumored that Gryffindor's remains are buried there, although his grave, if it is there, is unmarked. Anyway... the graveyard is best viewed at night, for reasons that you will understand once you get there, so I imagine that you'll probably not be coming back until rather late tonight. The door will be magically locked, but has been trained to recognize your voice, Harry, so if you tell it to open, it will. There will be some food in the kitchen, and you lot can feel free to help yourselves. Well, good day to you then."

They all bade goodbye to Kingsley, and began to set off toward the ruins of the Potter house. "I suppose we ought to go to my house first," explained Harry, on the way there. "I wonder why the graveyard is best viewed at night?"

"I bet there's some really interesting magic there, if it's an all-magical graveyard," gushed Hermione, who was trying, but generally failing, to hide her excitement as a show of respect to Harry's feelings.

"It's still short of noon, though," said Ron, who looked slightly confused. "I wonder what we're expected to do after we look at the house, and before the graveyard. It didn't much sound like Shacklebolt wants to see us before then."

"I'm sure it's nothing like that," said Hermione. "He probably just didn't want it to seem like he's trying to keep an eye on us. Anyway, I'm sure we can occupy ourselves this afternoon. We can walk around the village if there's nothing else to do."

"Good thing you told us to bring these snacks with us," said Ron, as he pulled a chocolate frog out from his satchel. "Doesn't sound like we'll be having another proper meal until this evening."

"If we need to, we could always apparate over to Diagon Alley to pick up a bite," said Harry, as they came within sight of the ruins of his first home.

Harry was rather surprised to see that the ruins of the house sat in a heap, much as they must have when he was pulled from the rubble by Hagrid 16 years before. He only had a few seconds to reflect upon how odd it was that the rubble had not been removed before he spotted something even odder. A small memorial had been placed in front of the ruined building.

It read: "This spot saw the final stand of James and Lily Potter, who thrice defied the Dark Lord. It further saw the Dark Lord's final attempt at treachery, as he failed to kill the infant boy, Harry Potter."

"That memorial must have been put up long before Voldemort's return then," said Harry, with a grim smile. "Seems so naive now, doesn't it? That the whole wizarding world thought he was gone?"

"Yeah," agreed Ron. "That memorial kind of spits in the face of Wizarding Secrecy, though, doesn't it? Any muggle from the village on the other side of the forest could walk past here any time they wanted, couldn't they?"

"Probably," answered Hermione. "But maybe this is one of those things that only magical folk can see. The memorial, anyway. Passing muggles are probably just curious as to why nobody has bothered to clear away the ruins after a decade and a half."

Harry gave another grim smile as he pictured the reaction the Dursleys would have had to this wreck if they had lived in the neighboring village. They would have been apalled that a pile of rubble could sit uncleared only miles from their house for a full 16 years. As he thought about the Dursleys, Harry wondered, not for the first time that summer, what his life would have been like if his parents really _had _died in a car crash as the Dursleys had originally claimed, instead of at the hands of the most powerful Dark Wizard of all time. Certainly, he wouldn't be racking his brain for any clues to the location of the three or four remaining Horcruxes that guaranteed Voldemort's immortality. Instead he would still be sleeping in a broom cupboard under the stairs of the Dursleys' house.

"Do you want to be alone, Harry?" asked Hermione, after watching Harry stare blankly at the ruins for several moments.

"No. No, I don't think so," replied Harry, hastily. He had been listening to his mother's voice, which had been replaying in his head like it had during his third year when the Dementors had come near him. But this time, it was his proximity to his old home, and not to a darkly magical creature, that caused the painful psychological reenactment of his darkest moment.

Hermione and Ron each placed a hand on one of Harry's shoulders, and stood with him there for several minutes, not making a noise at all until Harry muttered, "That's enough" and began to walk away.

They walked on in silence, to the edge of the Wizards' enclave known as Godric's Hollow, and into the forest leading further away from the neighboring muggle village. Harry had no desire to walk through a muggle village while his thoughts were so embroiled in the Wizarding World.

The three of them walked on in silence for several minutes. Then Hermione, in a small voice, asked, "Did... did you get what you were hoping to from that visit, Harry?"

Harry shrugged. "I can't even remember what I hoped to happen. Mostly, it just strengthened my resolve. I- I want to be as brave as my parents," he finished, in a slightly embarassed voice.

"You are, Harry," said Hermione with absolute sincerity.

Ron nodded, and there was silence for several more seconds. As long-dead leaves crushed below his feet in the shadowy forest, Harry reflected that this scene was entirely too morbid for his liking.

"Let's just hope I don't have to die to prove it, then," said Harry, with a small smile. Hermione and Ron looked at each other, looking concerned for a moment, before all three of them simultaneously broke into laughter.

"Seriously, Harry. I think you're being a little bit too cheerful about all this. You're starting to sound like Trelawney!" said Ron.

They laughed some more, startling a few birds from their resting places on tree-branches above. It was innocent laughter, coming from three young adults who had managed to remain good and whole in the face of the darkest times known to the wizarding world. Harry thought of how much that ironically joyous laughter would have scared Voldemort, if he had been able to hear it, and he laughed all the more.

Several hours later, however, as Harry stood in the graveyard as the stars began to emerge from above, he did not feel much like laughing. He had been anticipating this trip to his parents' final resting places for several weeks, and now that it was here, he could not fight the lump that was forming in his throat.

With Ron and Hermione at his side, he gazed at the joint headstone shared by his mother and father. It was glowing brightly in Gryffindor's red and gold, a sight which was rather enchanting, and was also, Harry now understood, the reason that the graveyard was best visited after dark. All of the other graves were glowing in different colors as well.

"I... I'd like to be alone now," Harry stated with some difficulty through the ever-growing lump in his throat. The sight of the grave had brought to Harry's mind all of the other people he had lost over the past years, and the thought was threatening to overwhelm him.

As Hermione and Ron walked away from Harry and further into the graveyard, Harry's eyes welled up with tears. The tears began to fall as he read the gravestone. It read:

"Lily Potter: 1960-1981. James Potter: 1960-1981.

May the legacy of their bravery be as everlasting as their love for one another."

As Harry looked at the gravestone, many thoughts flashed through his mind. He himself was almost 17, which made him realize that when his parents were his age, they only had 4 more years left to live. It was the first time that Harry had realized how close he was getting to the oldest age his parents had ever achieved. They had been young adults, barely out of their teens. And even in spite of that, his mother, herself having experienced such a short life, had given her own life rather than step aside to let Voldemort kill him. Once again, the memory that had always been brought on by the dementors came to Harry's mind and he heard his mother pleading with Voldemort not to kill him.

"Soon, mum. Soon, I'll make it all have been worth it. Dad, you went down fighting, but you couldn't have killed him anyway. Soon, though, I'll be able to. Neither of you will have died in vain," he said quietly, his voice cracking several times as he pronounced this promise. He wondered whether they could hear what he was saying, wherever it was that they were. By this time, tears were practically gushing down his face. They were not simply tears of sadness, but tears of determination as well.

After almost a full minute of unrestrained tears, he began to wipe his eyes on his shirt-sleeve. He sniffed a few times, trying to pull himself together. Between sniffs, he realized just how quiet it was in that graveyard. However, almost immediately after he noticed this silence, the effect was ruined by a small shout of surprise made by Hermione.

Reflexively reaching for his wand, Harry looked around the graveyard to make sure Hermione was all right. However, the light coming from the graves was not enough to illuminate the scene, and all he could see was shadows.

"You all right?" Harry called, through the darkness.

"Oh, sorry! Didn't mean to disturb you. We're all right," said Hermione. Harry could tell from the way the voice sounded that she and Ron had not traveled far through the graveyard.

"No, it's okay," said Harry, starting to make his way toward the voice. "I was done anyway. I was just about to come look for you."

"Oh, well, then... You might want to come have a look at this, mate," said Ron.

Wondering what his friends could have found here in the graveyard, Harry quickened his pace. Seconds later, he arrived at a headstone which shone Blue and Bronze, the colors of the Ravenclaw House. The background glowed a deep blue and rising out from the stone was the form of the Ravenclaw Eagle, shining bronze. Harry reckoned this was rather impressive, but was still rather unsure of what had caused Hermione's shout of surprise, until he noticed the epitaph. Bronze letters declared the occupant of the grave to be:

"Rowena Augusta Byzanti

1926-1981

Heir of Ravenclaw"

As soon as he read the name, Harry said, "You don't reckon...?"

"The date for the death fits pretty well, though, doesn't it? She would have died just before Voldemort fell from power. The note certainly did make it sound like it was written during Voldemort's first reign of terror, and that the writer figured she was going to die as a result of what she had done. I think the name's at least worth looking into," reasoned Hermione.

"Yeah, I guess you're right," said Harry. Harry realized that he wasn't particularly surprised to find this grave here. It was almost as if he had been expecting it. He couldn't explain why, but as he continued to look at the grave, he was somehow certain that this Rowena woman had in fact been the mysterious R.A.B. who had written the note. With an equally strange foreknowledge, he understood what he was supposed to do next.

He reached out his hand and ran it across the three-inch high letters that declared the occupant of the grave to be the heir of Ravenclaw. He ran his fingers once from left to right, then back again, and once more from left to right.

Hermione looked to be on the point of asking Harry what exactly he thought he was doing when a previously invisible door, about 6 inches wide by 8 inches high, slid back at the very bottom of the headstone, revealing a small book that had been hidden inside the headstone.

On the cover were the words, "Diary of Rowena Augusta Byzanti, Heir of Ravenclaw, Enemy of Slytherin." Harry reached out and grabbed the journal. He then, once again, noticed something which did not strike him as as much of a surprise as it should have.

Tucked between the pages like a bookmark, with the chain hanging down the back of the book, was a locket. Before he even examined it up close, he knew it was the locket of Slytherin. Harry had found the third Horcrux.

A/N: So... How'd you like my feeble attempt at a cliffhanger? Well... that's my answer to all of the Regulus Black is R.A.B. speculation out there: Create a new character. I know fanfiction readers generally hate O.C.'s, but I feel that having a dead original character isn't all that bad. Anyway, you'll find out more about her in future chapters, assuming that this one hasn't completely turned you off. I hope that this take on R.A.B. helps to make my story more, er..., original and worth reading. For those of you who like long chapters, I apologize that this one is slightly shorter than my previous ones for this story. It just seemed like the right place to end it. Next chapter should be up probably within one to three days. It makes it easier to write if I know people are enjoying my work, so if I'm holding your interest, please drop me a review to let me know. Thanks for reading!


	4. The New Headmistress

A/N: A couple of people commented on the fact that Harry just "knew" what to do in the graveyard... And yes, there's a reason I did it like that, and it was not sheer laziness in not wanting to explain how he knows how to do this stuff. How he has this insight is somewhat important to this story, and will be explained. But not this chapter. Still, I wanted to mention it for those of you who commented on it, so you know that I didn't ignore the question. Another point that I want to make is that I am not expressly trying to make this story predict everything that will happen in the sixth book because I feel that to be impossible. What I'm trying to do is write a story that remains faithful to canon (by which I mean the six published books and under which category I do not count any of Rowling's interviews) while being entertaining and unique. Thus, some things happen in the story that will probably not happen in the book. Hopefully, this simply makes the story more fun to read.

Chapter 4:

The New Headmistress

Later that same night, Harry was lying awake on the floor of the single room that the three friends were sharing in the Shacklebolts' comfortably small house. It didn't much matter that both he and Ron had been relegated to the floor while Hermione slept in the only guest-bed, because each Harry and Ron had been provided with enchanted sleeping bags which were basically as comfortable as beds were anyway.

So, it was not for lack of comfortable quarters that Harry was unable to force himself into sleep that night. Instead, it was his curiousity about the newly revealed Rowena Augusta Byzanti that kept him awake. The journal, which he had hoped would reveal how the woman had single-handedly stolen one of Voldemort's Horcruxes and perhaps also contain hints on the whereabouts of those three that remained, had turned out to be quite a disappointment.

Indeed, only the first page had been written on. Harry could recall almost verbatim what it said, because he had read it several times hoping that he would detect some clue that had previously gone unnoticed. But no matter how many times he read it, all the page said was

"Yes, it was I who discovered Tom Riddle's secret method of preserving his soul and I who stole the enclosed Horcrux from the bottom of a bowl of potion in the cave where the future 'Dark Lord' first used his burgeoning powers against helpless children. I found this information by going undercover as a Deatheater for several months. I had known Tom Riddle since his days at Hogwarts, having been in the same year as him, although obviously not in the same house. This personal acquaintance with the young Voldemort aided me in my attempts to discover his secrets, but it was obviously not enough. I am sure that whoever has gone to the trouble of finding this journal will want to know more about me and how I discovered what I did, but I am frankly not sure whether I can trust the reader. All I will tell you is that this Horcrux has been destroyed. However, if your aims are noble, I wish you luck."

Unfortunately, Harry reckoned that luck wasn't really going to cut it on this one. As important as Harry had considered finding the identity of R.A.B. to be, it seemed that she was proving not to be much help. Well. Except for the bit where she destroyed the Horcrux. If, of course, she had actually even done that. It seemed to Harry that without knowing any more about her than had been displayed on the opening page of her journal, it was impossible to even be sure about that. It was starting to become clear to Harry how difficult it was going to be for him to track down the remaining Horcruxes without Dumbledore's help. On his own, he couldn't even tell whether a Horcrux was broken or not.

However, he could not help but believe that R.A.B. had something more to tell him than was written on the first page of her journal, in spite of the fact that he had flipped through the rest of the book several times to no avail. He could not help but think of another instance in which a journal, appearing to be blank, had actually contained much information. But... this journal couldn't be a Horcrux as well, could it?

But then, upon learning in the second year that Tom Riddle's diary had been writing back to those who wrote in it, Dumbledore did not at first explain that it had been a Horcrux, although Harry now knew that Dumbledore had privately harbored that suspicion. He had mentioned something about people being able to preserve their memories. Harry wondered whether this journal could have secrets without necessarily being a Horcrux.

And, of course, there was only one way to discover that. He knew what Hermione would say if she knew he was thinking of writing in the journal and asking it for answers. But Hermione was sleeping soundly on the bed, still secure in her belief, which she had expressed before going to bed, that now that they knew R.A.B.'s full name, it should be no trouble to find out more about her in a library somewhere. More importantly, he knew what Ginny would say to what would appear to her to be a thickheaded refusal to learn from her past mistakes with interactive diaries. And yet, somehow Harry himself felt sure that this was a different situation. Something within him kept goading him to write in the journal.   
Ignoring the fact that some persistent urge to do something for no reason that he himself could describe would probably come off sounding like a classic case of possession if he had told anybody about it, Harry finally gave in and got out of bed. He collected his wand and the journal. He muttered "lumos" and searched a bit before finding a quill and some ink in his backpack.

He opened up to the second page of the journal and, making a conscious effort not to let the quill scratch loudly enough to wake Ron or Hermione, wrote,

"You can trust the reader. I'm out to continue your work in destroying the Horcruxes and kill Lord Voldemort."

The words did not disappear as they had done with Riddle's diary during Harry's second year, but instead remained on the page. However, they were soon joined by new words, in the same handwriting as the first page had been written, which responded,

"Yes, well, you'd say that even if you were working for Voldemort, wouldn't you? You'd want to butter me up and have me tell you everything I know. Then Voldemort would know how much of his secret was still safe. Just writing that I can trust you doesn't make it true."

Harry puzzled over this for a second. Then, feeling rather stupid that he appeared to be arguing with a journal, wrote,

"Well, what do I have to do to convince you then?"

Before the journal even responded, Harry heard Hermione stir slightly in her bed. He hoped silently that she wouldn't actually wake up, because he knew he would have a hard time explaining what he was doing if she did.

"Well. For starters, I would like you to tell me exactly how you came across this journal."

Unfortunately, at that moment, Hermione sat up in her bed. In his wandlight, Harry could see her concerned look as she first looked over at him and said, "Harry, why are you still up? What's going on?" Then, he saw her facial expression change as Hermione's eyes fell on the journal that he had been writing in. Even as he hastened to close the journal, he knew that it was no good. His entire conversation was written out in the journal for her to see.

Still, evasion was worth a try, "Nothing's going on Hermione. I was just having a hard time sleeping, so I figured I'd try reading this page again, and, you know, look for any clues we might've missed earlier."

"Then what's that quill doing in your hand?" she asked severely as she climbed out of bed, being careful not to step on Ron as she made her way to Harry's sleeping bag. "You won't mind if I take a look at the page too then, will you?"

She extended a hand to take the book from him, and Harry knew it was not worth trying to refuse. "Fine, Hermione," he said, as he gave her the journal. "I tried writing in it. I knew you wouldn't like me doing that, so that's why I didn't tell you."

"Harry, it could be posessed!" Hermione managed to pack all the anger of a loud shout into a harsh whisper, still trying to keep her anger quiet so as not to wake Ron up.

"Hermione, I know it's not possessed!" replied Harry.

"And how do you know?" asked Hermione.

"I just know," said Harry, knowing that this answer was not going to fly in the slightest.

"So, you're telling me that the fact you have convictions and knowledge that you can't explain proves that you're _not _being possessed, does it? How did you even know how to find this journal? What made you run your fingers over that Rowena woman's name?" Hermione asked, apparently putting a lot of effort into keeping her voice down to a whisper in the heat of argument.

"It was just a hunch, Hermione. I just kind of knew that I should do it. But I wasn't being forced to. I still made the decision to reach out and touch the name, just like I made the decision to write in the journal. And I haven't blacked out or anything. I still remember everything I've done. That doesn't sound like I'm being possessed, does it? Ginny told me how it feels!" Harry finished in a rather loud whisper, but was still trying to keep his voice down.

Apparently, however, he had not tried hard enough, because at that moment, Ron groggily registered, "What'd you say about my sister?"

"Nothing, Ron, go back to bed," said Harry, slightly irritably. He didn't need to have both his friends on his case just now.

However, Hermione didn't seem to feel it necessary to keep Ron in the dark about what they were talking about, because she kept right on with the conversation as if there had been no break. "Fine, Harry, we'll go ask Ginny whether _she _thinks it's a good idea that you're going around having conversations with thinking journals. I'm sure she'll be thrilled to stand up for you and tell me there's no way this diary's got anything sinsiter about it. Shall we go back to the Weasleys' now, or shall we wait until morning?"

Harry remained silent for a second, which apparently gave the semi-awake Ron enough time to process her rant. He said, "Harry, mate, I don't think it's a good idea for you to go around writing in possessed journals."

"It's not possessed!" Harry whispered angrily. He would have shouted, just to put the proper amount of emphasis on his conviction, but he knew that the Shacklebolts were sleeping in the room right next door, and figured it would be even less convenient to have them awake and angry with him in addition to Hermione.

"Fine. And you figure Ginny will back you up on that, right?" said Hermione.

"I don't want to drag Ginny into this," said Harry, ironically aware that he was the one who had brought Ginny into this conversation in the first place. Still, he was quite sure that Ginny would _not _back him up on this one, especially after he had seen her reaction when she had found out he was following the instructions from the Half-blood Prince in his Potions book. She hadn't even heard the whole conversation and had immediately jumped to the conclusion that Harry was dealing with a possessed book. He did not want to tell her about this one.

"Fine, let's talk to McGonagall about this, then. She might actually be able to test the journal to tell whether it's a horcrux, or just a bit of helpfully interactive parchment on the level of the Marauders' Map. And she could test the other Horcrux too, to see if Rowena actually _did _destroy it, or if it's still holding a bit of Voldemort's soul." Hermione said this reasonably enough, and he was on the point of agreeing anyway when she added with a slight giggle, "If you talk to McGonagall, then I won't tell Ginny about what you've been doing."

"Well... I'm not sure whether we can tell her directly about the Horcruxes though, as Dumbledore did tell me only to tell you guys. However, I could just ask her if she can find any suspicious dark-magic on the locket, and then ask her whether there's anything shady about the journal," reasoned Harry.

"Well, if you let her look at the journal, she'll be able to tell that the locket was a Horcrux, and then she'll know that was what you and Dumbledore were looking for that night," said Ron, who now seemed to be quite awake.

"That's true," said Harry. "So, maybe I should just take her the locket, and ask her to have a look at that. If it really isn't a Horcrux any longer, then at least that means that Rowena destroyed it, which means that she's on our side rather than Voldemort's which _should _mean that she wouldn't leave behind a journal to posess us, shouldn't it?"

"Well..." said Hermione hesitantly, "I still don't think we can trust the journal. Look... will you just let me hold onto the journal for now? I'm sure there are other ways to get leads on the location of the other Horcruxes than this stupid journal."

Harry could tell that it would be no use arguing this point, especially as it would simply not be worth it to have Hermione be furious with him. He would try to see McGonnagal the next day, have her test whether the locket was harboring any odd magic, and then go from there. Maybe it would turn out that she already somehow knew about the Horcruxes and just had not realized that Harry and Dumbledore had been looking for one on the particular night that Dumbledore died.

Either way, the most important thing now, Harry reflected as he sighed heavily and gave the journal to Hermione, was to get some sleep. He yawned as he watched Hermione put the journal under her pillow, apparently to alert her if Harry tried to go for it again, and was asleep within a minute of putting his head back down on his pillow.

The next day was a Monday, so Kingsley was off fulfilling his duty at the Muggle Prime Minister's office when the three teenagers rose from bed. After Aurelia, who was a stay-at-home mother, kindly provided the trio with breakfast, Harry said, "Do you guys have some floo-powder I can borrow? I need to get a message to Professor McGonagall."

"Sure," said Aurelia, kindly. "You know how to use it and everything, right? Just stick your head in the fire and say, 'Hogwarts' Headmasters Office,' and it should put you right in touch with her. I've heard she's been putting in long hours as of late, trying to make sure the school's ready to open on time. Apparently the Governors aren't yet decided on whether they'll let Hogwarts reopen."

Harry was planning on simply reaching McGonagall by Floo Powder, and then asking her when she could meet with him to discuss the journal and the locket. He still wasn't quite sure how he would be able to ask the new Headmaster to examine the items for dark magic without revealing to her that he was searching for Horcruxes, but he figured he'd have plenty of time to think about that in between the time when he first made contact with the professor and the time when they set their appointment.

So several minutes later, as he stuck his head into the warm flames, he was not quite ready for the conversation that unfolded.

When his head first stopped spinning in the fire-place, he saw McGonagall with her head bent over a piece of parchment sitting on her desk. Harry hesitated for a moment, in which he realized how rude it might seem for his head to pop unnanouced into somebody's office. But it was important that he talk to her, so he decided to forget about being polite, and cleared his throat loudly.

McGonagall looked up with a start, and Harry could tell that she had been crying, which struck him as exceptionally odd. McGonagall was not really the type of woman who you'd expect to cry. When she recognized Harry, she dabbed quickly at her eyes, and quickly did all she could do regain her composure. She did a pretty good job of it, and when she talked it was in quite a natural voice. What she said surprised him though. "Ah, Harry. I was just about to inquire to the Weasleys about your whereabouts, actually, so it's quite lucky that you've turned up here. Saves me the trip. Would it be terribly inconvenient for you to make an appearance in my office with your full body?"

"Er... No, not inconvenient at all. I had wanted to see you as well," said Harry.

"As your appearance in my fireplace has made quite clear," said McGonagall with a small smile. "You will, of course, not be able to apparate onto Hogwarts grounds, but if you go to Hogsmeade, you can get here from there."

"I can't apparate yet," said Harry. "I don't turn 17 for another two weeks, so I haven't taken my test yet."

"But you can do it, can't you?" she asked. When Harry nodded, she said, "Well, just apparate into the back room of Madame Rosmerta's bar. She is now out from under the influence of the Imperius Curse, and I'm sure she won't tell anyone that you've been apparating underage. And even if she does, it wouldn't do much for the Ministry's image to arrest 'the Chosen One' right now for any reason whatsoever."

"Okay," said Harry, somewhat surprised by McGonagall's lack of regard for the rules, given her usually strict nature. Apparently then, Harry reckoned, whatever it was that she needed to talk to him about was rather serious. "I'll be there as soon as I can."

"Mr. Filch will open the gate for you, and the password for my office is 'Tartan Plaids.' I await your visit," said McGonagall, who then looked back down at the parchment that she had been examining upon his arrival.

His curiousity with what McGonagall could have to say to him that was so important almost drove the thought of R.A.B. from his mind as he pulled his head out of the fireplace.

"So, when can you meet her?" asked Hermione, after he had shaken his head to clear it.

"Right now, apparently," said Harry, who still looked a bit confused about the idea.

"How are you getting there?" asked Ron.

"She wants me to apparate," said Harry. "So... I guess I'll see you guys later."

Hermione looked as surprised as Harry had been about McGonagall's disregard for the law, but she recovered herself in time to say, "Remember to take these!" as she handed him the journal and the locket which it had contained.

"Oh, right," said Harry. He took the two objects and disapparated with them.

It took him about half an hour from the time he apparated in front of a surprised Madame Rosmerta to make his way all the way up to the castle and into the Headmaster's office, but once McGonagall answered his knock at the door to allow him to come in, the piece of parchment was still sitting on the desk.

The portraits of the previous headmasters were all awake, including the one of Albus Dumbledore. He smiled and winked at Harry when he came in. As Harry sat down, Dumbledore's portrait said, "Ah, Harry... Professor McGonagall has something important to show you. I'll let her get on with it, though." He smiled some more.

McGonagall cleared her throat from where she still sat behind the desk. She motioned toward the piece of parchment. "Professor Dumbledore's portrait just recently informed me of this piece of paper. He _could _have done so much sooner-" said McGonagall.

She was cut off by Dumbledore's portrait, which said, "You seemed to have quite enough to contend with as it was. What, with the Governors and all... always were rather an unpleasant lot, I daresay..."

It was odd for Harry to hear Dumbledore's voice again. He reckoned that if McGonagall had not been present in the room, Harry would have been quite content to sit there for hours and talk to Dumbledore's portrait.

"At any rate," continued Professor McGonagall, "the parchment contained a letter that Professor Dumbledore wrote on his last night alive. It seems that he realized he was putting himself in a great amount of danger by seeking the Horcrux and wasn't sure that he would make it back. Part of the reason that he brought you along was to ensure that the Horcrux would make it back here safely even if he did not. Somehow, he seemed convicned that you'd make it back no matter what. He always had a lot of faith in you, and that's another reason why he took you along. He figured you'd need to know what it was like to find one of Voldemort's Horcruxes, to realize the danger involved, because he knew that you would be the one to search for them once he was gone." Several times during this speech, McGonagall's voice cracked. Harry understood now why she had been crying when he saw her from the fireplace.

Harry's mind was practically spinning at this point. "Wait... You knew about the Horcruxes?" he asked in astonishment.

"I did not," said McGonagall. "Apparently the Headmaster had reason to want to keep the information secret. But the letter explained it. It also, incidentally, explained that Professor Dumbledore had taken one more measure to guarantee that he would not leave any loose ends in the event of his death. He left you a memory, Harry, a final message to you. That is why I called you here."

She got up from her desk and collected Dumbledore's Pensieve from the cupboard where it had always been kept when the office had been in Dumbledore's charge. From the same cupboard, she also retrieved a crystal bottle of the type that Dumbledore had used to store the memories he had shown Harry during the previous year. She released the gaseous liquid into the Pensieve and watched as it began to swirl around.

"He asked that you view this memory alone," McGonagall informed him. Harry nodded solemenly, and tipped himself headfirst into the magical bowl.

Once he was within the memory, he was still standing in Dumbledore's office, except that now it was Dumbledore insted of McGonagall who sat in the Headmaster's chair. Dumbledore cleared his throat. Harry felt a chill run up his spine as he realized that the Dumbledore seated in front of him was a man only hours away from his own death. Dumbledore's face, however, was ironically unconcerned, and his eyes contained that familiar twinkle that Harry had grown so accustomed to.

"You are welcome to sit down, Harry," said Dumbledore, motioning to the seat across from him. "That way, I'll know where to look so that you'll think I'm looking at you." Dumbledore paused as Harry seated himself. Dumbledore appeared to look straight into his eyes. "Well. I've never made a posthumous speech before and am rather unsure of how to begin. This is rather morbid, actually, and I hope you never have to see it."

But the smile that Dumbledore gave at this point was not morbid at all.

"At any rate, if you're watching this, then I have no doubt met a rather unfortunately-timed demise. With luck, I have managed to retrieve the third Horcrux, and perhaps you have delivered it back safely to Hogwarts. If this is the case, I would ask you to turn the Horcrux over to Professor McGonagall, who has no doubt already filled the vacant Headmaster seat. She is, as I hope you have noticed already, a very capable witch, and now the most powerful magical entity at Hogwarts. She will, of course, help you in any way she can to find the remaining Horcruxes and destroy them. I have just completed a letter in which I have asked her to continue my search for memories of Tom Riddle's past, so perhaps she will be able to give you some leads as to where the other two Horcruxes may be hidden. I say 'two' because, of course, the third remaining Horcrux, being a snake, would be rather mobile. Unfortunately, however, the main burden to find these remaining Horcruxes will rest with you. And, of course, I am sure that young Mr. Weasley and Ms. Granger will insist on helping you as well." He smiled to show that he approved of this insistence.

"And, of course, you should not resist the help of anyone else whom you believe you can trust with so great a burden, although you should still not divulge information of your plans lightly. It is unfortunately necessary in these times to operate in secret. At any rate, the new Headmistress will be unable to leave the school for extended periods of time, and that is why she cannot search for the Horcruxes herself. The Governors will no doubt be keeping her under close watch, and may be considering closing the school down if I have died. And I would rather not allow that to happen, which is why the new Headmistress must stay at the school and keep the Governors happy.

"However, I believe that you, although you should also search for the Horcruxes, would be ill-advised to stop attending the school. Imagine the example it would send to your fellow students if one of their greatest role-models dropped out. Parents are already hesitant to send their children to school _with _me here. Imagine their reaction if Albus Dumbledore should die and Harry Potter should vanish. I'm afraid that in that case, there would not be much of a student body for the Governors to prevent from attending Hogwarts if they did decide to close it down.

"At a time like this, I believe that your fellow students need you. Many of them admire you greatly, and rightly so. Although the club that Dolores Umbridge unfortunately discovered during your Fifth Year was styled "Dumbledore's Army," I am quite sure that most of its members would have been just as contented to refer to themselves as "Potter's Army." I say this not to give you a big head, as Professor Snape assures me that you need no help with that." Dumbledore smiled, and Harry felt rage bubble in him at his former Potions' Master once again. It struck him as so strange that this memory of Dumbledore still trusted Snape, only hours before being murdered by him.

"The reason I am telling you is so that you realize why I want you to stay at school. Your fellow students need a leader, and I am afraid that this burden must fall on your shoulders. Thus, I believe that you should do as much of the research as possible into where Voldemort's remaining Horcruxes might be while attending school. I have instructed Professor McGonagall within my letter to her to allow you to leave the school whenever you need to, and the same privilege shall be granted to Ron and Hermione.

"Of course, the final decision in all of these matters rests with you. I will leave you now with a few bits of parting advice. First of all, I must ask you to have the new Headmistress destroy this memory after you have viewed it. I would not want you to be tempted to revisit this memory more often than is healthy. If I am now gone, it would not do for you to dwell on memories of me for too long. At least not memories that are this morbid. I have, however, left one more memory in Professor McGonagall's charge, which I want you to view when you are ready, although not before six weeks after you have seen this one. I think that you should have had ample time to mourn my death before watching the next memory. The effect will be better that way," Dumbledore smiled again.

"As for my remaining parting advice, I can tell you only to live life to the fullest, in spite of the darkness all around you. I would ask you to follow my example as far as that goes, but that might make me sound a bit too full of myself. Although I suppose I can afford to be full of myself if I am dead, can't I? Well, at any rate, I believe I can hear your footsteps approaching my office, and I certainly wouldn't want you to walk in on this scene while I'm still alive, now would I? With any luck, I shall return tonight and destroy this memory myself, laughing all the while at an old man's paranoia. But if not, I would just like to say good-bye Harry, and to tell you that you were like family to me. It is too bad that we must now part ways, but I shall see you, for lack of a better phrase, on "the other side." But of course, not for at least another century or so." Dumbledore smiled widely again, and the memory dissolved.

Harry realized that he was crying, and simultaneously he wondered exactly how he would get back to the present. However, almost as soon as he thought that, he felt the familiar sensation that he usually felt when Dumbledore pulled him out of a memory, and was standing back in McGonagall's present-day office.

He quickly wiped his eyes, as McGonagall had done when he had materialized in the fireplace less than an hour ago. As he sat back down across the desk from her, he saw her in a new light. This woman who Dumbledore had held in such high esteem truly was a remarkable witch, and Harry knew that she would be a capable Headmistress. In fact, Harry reflected, as he remembered the request that Dumbledore had made of him, she would now be his new Headmistress as well, as he would honor Dumbledore's request to return to Hogwarts for a final year.

A/N: Hmmm... I suppose that's as good as any other way to end the chapter. It's rather long as it is, and I want to get another chapter up tonight, as it's been several days since I have updated. I don't want to lose any readers over lack of reliable updates. I figure I can lose enough readers by virtue of my writing itself. So, anyway... I wonder whether the hard-line canon community will stop reading this now that I've revealed Harry will attend Hogwarts even as he's hunting Horcruxes... Ah, well... It's my story, and I can have Harry attend Hogwarts if I want. I just hope that my way of explaining why he's doing it was believable enough... Once again, I would greatly appreciate reviews to let me know what I'm doing right and wrong, and at this point also just to make sure that I've not scared off all my readers. Anyway... Thanks for reading!


	5. Ravenclaw's Heir

A/N: Wow, you guys are awesome! I had been pretty concerned about how last chapter would be received, and you guys definitely reassured me with your positive reviews. So, thanks for that. Hopefully, this chapter will be up to snuff. I like it, anyway.

Chapter 5

Rowena's Journal

Professor McGonagall seemed to hesitate for a moment before speaking to Harry once he came out of the memory. However, when she did speak, it was with her usual measured efficiency, and her voice betrayed very little emotion. "Before you've announced your decision on whether you're coming back to Hogwarts for next term, I would like to have a quick word. I would advise that you should remember that even if the Dark Lord is destroyed, his followers will not immediately disband. During the decade or so between when the Death-eaters thought him vanquished and his return, there were still instances of acts that meshed quite well with his ideology. So I think that you should consider that even once you have destroyed the Horcruxes and faced the Dark Lord, you would still do well to pursue your previously expressed ambition of becoming an auror. And the best way for you to prepare for this would be to stay in school this year, and do all you can to prepare for your N.E.W.T.'s while searching for the Horcruxes. No doubt, your friend Ms. Granger will be more than happy to help you along in your course work while you look for clues for regarding the Horcruxes. Although you could still possibly acquire your required N.E.W.T.'s after taking a year or two off to destroy the Dark Lord, I believe that you would find studying after a year off to be almost as difficult as studying while contending with the Dark Lord."

"Thanks, Professor," replied Harry, "but I had already decided that I will continue at Hogwarts this fall. Professor Dumbledore's speech convinced me. Do... Do you mind if I ask you how you plan to keep Hogwarts running, though? You're down two professors in the main subject areas right now, Defense Against the Dark Arts and Transfiguration. Besides which, last years' Fifth Years haven't even finished taking their O.W.L.'s."

"I am well aware of all that," said Professor McGonagall tersely, although Harry could tell from her eyes that she appreciated Harry's interest in the matter. Her appreciation was confirmed inasmuch as she actually answered the questions which, Harry realized, had not really been his business to inquire about. "I am still in the process of filling the Defense Against the Dark Arts' position, although I do have one particular applicant in whom I am quite interested. I am afraid that I myself shall have to continue to fill the Transfiguration post, as there has been very little interest shown in the teaching of the subject as of late, especially among any remotely qualified candidates. It seems that many of the academic types are less than inclined to place themselves at Hogwarts, which now seems to be considered directly in the line of fire given the events that prematurely ended last term. Of course, the sad truth is that it probably will not be much of an inconvenience for me to continue to teach Transfiguration, as I do not anticipate a full student-body this coming term. As for your other question, once the board of Governors decides whether or not the school should reopen this year, which they are expected to do within the week, I will send out letters inviting all fifth years to complete their O.W.L.'s in the first week of August, so that we still have time to process the scores before the beginning of the school year."

"Is there really a good chance that the Governors won't reopen the school?" asked Harry with some concern, hoping that Dumbledore's request would not be rendered immaterial by Hogwarts' failure to open its doors.

"I believe that they will reopen, as each of the remaining staff have expressed their desire to continue teaching. Also, you may not be surprised to find that there are those among the Governors who are nearly as fascinated with the idea of "The Chosen One" as is the public at large. And so, as much as it disturbs me to do so, I shall casually mention in my next letter to the board that you have agreed to rejoin the student body. This can't hurt our chances, at this point. It makes me feel almost like a Slytherin, though, using undesirable means to achieve my goal. Of course, as Headmistress, I should really stop showing favorism between houses," said McGonagall with a small smile.

"Well, Hermione will be glad to hear that the school will probably re-open," said Harry.

"She will be returning as well, I assume? Shall Mr. Weasley as well?" asked Professor McGonagall.

Harry felt slightly uncomfortable answering this question on behalf of his friends, but wagered it would be a pretty safe bet to assume they would, as the only reason they had been considering dropping out had been to accompany him on his quest for the Horcruxes. Since it now appeared that they would be able to do that from a base of operations at Hogwarts, Harry could see no reason that they would not be reentering school. "I believe so, yes," said Harry.

"Well, I'll need to get a more definitive answer from them personally, then," said McGonagall. "I swear, I don't know of any other Head who's had to contend with the prospect that her chosen Head Boy and Girl might not actually be attending the school in the fall. But now there's really no telling who might feel that they're safer away from the school. Or, of course, as in the case of your friends, to determine who may feel that they are _too _safe at school and instead decide to participate full-force in the war."

"So, er... Does that mean Ron and Hermione are going to be Head Boy and Girl?" asked Harry. There was no trace of jealousy in his voice, as there might have been two years ago. Since that time, he had realized that he had duties and responsibility well beyond the scope of being a head boy, and was rather more inclined to shirk any position that would call more attention to him if he could help it. He wondered briefly what kind of field day the _Daily Prophet _would have with a story about "The Chosen One" being made Head Boy to boot.

"Yes, I believe so," said McGonagall nodding. "I have another position that I must ask you to fill, however. Under ths circumstances, I think that it may be prudent to reinstate 'Dumbledore's Army' as a formalized school activity. It has been proven recently how unfortunately necessary it can be to have a prepared militia of students within this school. I would like you to lead Dumbledore's Army, as you did when it was first created. And I would propose to make the position of leader of the D.A. on a level with that of Head Boy and Head Girl. Although the move is unprecedented, the times that we face are unprecedented as well, and I'm quite sure that the Head Boy and Girl in question will not mind sharing their glory with you."

Harry hesitated for a moment. It was clear from McGonagall's voice that she very much wanted Harry to take this position. But he would be busy as it was with the search for the Horcruxes. Still, there was no denying that the D.A. was a valuable way to teach his peers skills that they would need, and to hone their dueling skills. It had certainly worked wonders on Neville. Even as Harry searched for the Horcruxes, his friends were going to be in danger from Voldemort, and it would be useless to concentrate too hard on returning Voldemort to mortal status while allowing him to wreak havoc on the school in the meantime. Finally, Harry said, "Fine, I can lead the group, but I would ask that I be granted the power to appoint officers to help me research spells and lead some meetings, in case I'm too busy searching for Horcruxes."

"That's perfectly reasonable," said Professor McGonagall, seemingly impressed with Harry's organizational instinct. "We shall, of course, speak more about all of this once term starts, although you can feel free to tell Hermione and the Weasleys of everything that's been said. However, I recall that it was in fact you who initiated this meeting. Why did you need to come to my fireplace this morning?" asked Professor McGonagall.

"Oh," said Harry, who quickly searched the room for the diary and locket, which he had set down before entering Dumbledore's memory. He seemed to have placed them on the desk by the Pensieve, since that was where they now were. He gestured to them. "I wanted you to have a look at these. The locket was once the third Horcrux of Voldemort, and I was hoping that perhaps you would know how to determine whether or not it still contained a piece of his soul. I also found this journal, which was written by the woman who recovered the locket before Professor Dumbledore had a chance to do so. Although it only has very little information on the first page, if prompted, it writes back to the reader. I wanted to make sure that it's not actually a Horcrux in disguise, out to possess me or something."

McGonagall suddenly looked very tired. "Ah, well. You certainly do have a lot to ask of me then. Would it be possible for you to wait a few days to find out the answers to your questions? I have some important matters to attend to in order to make sure the school can re-open, and the task that you have asked me to perform would take several hours of my undivided attention."

"Sure," said Harry, who was at this point simply glad to have taken the next step. He felt sure that the journal would be cleared as a benign device and would subsequently yield clues to how to find Voldemort's remaining Horcruxes. Although he regretted the fact that he would have to lose a few days without really searching for the Horcruxes, since the journal was his only real lead, he knew that he was far better off than he had been during the previous day at this point. "And if the Horcrux has not yet been destroyed, you'll know how to destroy it, right?" asked Harry.

"Of course," said Professor McGonagall with a small frown, as if the question was an insult. "Although not much is written in academic works about how to _make _Horcruxes, the art of destroying them is more openly discussed. It's still not common knowledge though, so if this one is not yet broken, the best way for you to learn how to break the rest would be for you to watch and learn from me as I destroy this one. However, at this point, I am afraid that I must ask you to be going. I have a meeting with the Minister of Magic in less than an hour in which I am supposed to discuss with him the progress that I have made toward re-opening the school."

"Good luck," said Harry sincerely, feeling vaguely sympathetic toward his Professor, as he knew how difficult Scrimgeour could be to deal with.

"Thank you, Harry," said McGonagall.

Half an hour later, Harry was back in the Shacklebolts' sitting room. He quickly filled Harry and Ron in on the details of his conversation with McGonagall.

Hermione was thrilled when he related his announcement that he would return to school. "I mean, I know it's not as important as the Horcruxes, but a good education is still important," Hermione explained hastily.

When Harry got to the bit about Hermione and Ron being appointed Head Boy and Head Girl, Hermione looked ecstatic, but Ron looked rather torn between happiness and disgust. "Ah! At least don't tell Fred and George until we absolutely have to, all right?" asked Ron.

Once he had finished telling them about what McGonagall had said regarding how long it would take her to determine the status of the Horcrux and the journal, he concluded, "So, I guess this means that we can actually go back to the Burrow for now, at least for awhile. Your Mum will be pleased about this, anyway," said Harry with a smile toward Ron.

"So will mine," said Hermione fervently. "Actually, I think I might end up going back to stay with them for a bit. They were really pretty upset when I left the other day. They're getting a bit sentimental about the fact that I'm going to be all done with school soon, and then I'll be off on my own and everything... It's almost like they think I'll stop visiting them or something."

"Yeah, parents can be weird like that sometimes," said Ron sympathetically. Then, he turned to Harry. "Ah, well. Guess it'll just be me and you for awhile then." Ron paused. "Oh, right. I forgot, you'll probably want to be spending time alone with Ginny, won't you?" There was a look of mild disgust mingled with disappointment on Ron's face.

"Don't worry, Ron, I'm sure we'll be able to stop snogging long enough to spend some time with you as well," said Harry jokingly. "Seriously though, Ron," he continued, "we wouldn't just spend time with each other and leave you out all the time."

"Thanks, mate," said Ron, with a smile.

"How 'bout this?" asked Hermione. "I'll stay at the Burrow (assuming that your Mum's all right with me staying over and everything) for a couple of weeks, until Harry's birthday. After that, I'll go home for two or three weeks, and come back in time to go with you guys to Diagon Alley, and then stay the rest of the summer."

"Sounds good," said Ron.

Luckily, when Mrs. Weasley heard the same proposition a few hours later, her response was about the same. All of the Weasleys were quite relieved to hear that Harry, Ron, and Hermione were planning to delay their trip alone at least for a few days, and possibly postpone it altogether, although Harry had cautioned Ron and Hermione that if he got the slightest lead over the summer, he would follow it. Of course, Hermione and Ron had assured him that they would follow him as well.

As soon as Harry had apparated in the Weasley's yard late that morning, Ginny had rushed up and kissed him, looking just about as relieved as Mrs. Weasley did at the sight of Ron. "Harry!" Ginny had gushed, after releasing him, "I just knew you wouldn't be gone for long!"

"Yes, well... Seems like those Divination classes are finally paying off, eh?" he asked jokingly.

After Mrs. Weasley got control of her joy at realizing her son was once again safe, at least for the time being, she immediately offered Harry and Hermione invitations to stay for the rest of the summer. Once Hermione explained her plan to divide her time between her own family and the Weasleys, Hermione, Harry, Ron, and Ginny ducked off to Ron's room, where Ginny, much to Harry's chagrin, apparently decided that the time was ripe to demand answers.

"So, what were you lot up to, anyway?" asked Ginny, putting her hands on her hips.

Harry found this pose vaguely amusing on Ginny, but decided that this wasn't the time to start laughing at her. "Why's it matter now? We're back, aren't we?"

"So it would seem, but I don't know when you might decide to run off again. Before you left, I was afraid to press you for answers, 'cause I thought we might end up arguing, and I didn't want to spend our only 24 hours together for who knew how long arguing. But now that you're back, we can have an argument if that's what it's gonna take. What have you been up to?" Ginny demanded once again.

"Well..." Harry considered for a moment whether he should tell her. In the Pensieve, Dumbledore had granted him permission to seek help from anyone he thought he knew he could trust. And he could certainly trust Ginny. But Dumbledore had also advised not to divulge the information lightly, and it didn't much seem that she would be much help to him in the process of actually finding the Horcruxes. So was there really any point in risking her somehow being forced to unwillingly leak the information to some Death-Eater? "Look. I can't let this information become general knowledge, but I just found out that Dumbledore wouldn't have minded me telling a select few people. But if I'm going to tell you, you have to promise not to tell _anyone_, not even your parents, because we don't want to risk them being forced to give up the information. And also, I don't want to just go telling anyone this without any practical purpose, so if you want me to tell you, once I do, you'll have to do whatever you can to help us in what we're trying to do. And just so you know, that will probably include you staying back at school while we go on the mission."

Ginny puffed up defiantly. "Why can't I come on the mission too?"

"Because it will be really dangerous. There's really no guarantee we'll all survive it, especially if Voldemort catches wise to what we're doing. And do you really want to think of what it'd do to your Mum if both you _and _Ron ended up dead?"

"Don't say that!" said Hermione.

"It's what we're dealing with, and you know it," said Harry grimly. "If you don't like it, you can turn back. I've told you that several times so far this summer."

"It's not _that_!" exclaimed Hermione defensively. "I know what we're going up against, there's just no need to be so morbid about it."

"Fine, fine," Ginny conceded. "I guess it's better to stay back off the mission and at least know what the mission _is _than to stay back anyway and have no idea what's going on. So, fine, Harry. I'll do whatever the hell you tell me to, just tell me what's going on, will you?"

So Harry gave Ginny a brief run-down of what he had learned from Dumbledore during the previous year, and what he had recently learned about the identity of R.A.B. When he had gotten to the point of the story that involved him "just knowing" that he ought to write in R.A.B.'s journal to see if it would write back, Ginny looked to be on the point of slapping him. But when he told about his visit to McGonagall's office, her face softened again, especially when he mentioned Dumbledore's memory.

After he was done telling the story, she broke her long silence to say, "So, you really are going back to school this year then? I thought maybe you were just telling that to my Mum to keep her from worrying, but would really go off on some grand adventure instead." Although Ginny masked the phrase "grand adventure" with sarcasm, Harry could tell that she was still jealous at her exclusion from said adventure.

"Yes, I'm really going to school. I wouldn't lie to your Mum," said Harry.

"Well, you certainly didn't go out of your way to mention to her about the special privileges to go off the grounds whenever you need to, did you?" asked Ginny slyly.

"Of course not. There's no need to worry her, is there?" Harry asked.

"I guess not," responded Ginny. "I'm glad you condescended to worry me though. I really do feel better knowing what's going on. So, you promise you'll keep me up to date with anything else you find out?"

"Yeah," agreed Harry, and with that, the topic was closed. Conversation turned to more pleasant topics, and the rest of the day flowed comfortably between the four teens.

The next week similarly passed peacefully, as Ron, Harry, and Hermione relished their temporary reprieve from the search for the Horcruxes, content to trust the matter to McGonagall for now. Of course, the matter of what was in the journal never quite left Harry's mind, even when Harry was taking advantage of the warm weather to toss a quaffle around with Ron and Ginny on their broomsticks. He couldn't wait to get his hands back on the journal and pump it dry of all the information it contained, because he somehow still sensed that it could help him a lot more than it had so far.

Thus, it was with a high measure of excitement that Harry greeted McGonagall when her head popped into the fire at the Burrow one morning a week after Harry, Ron, and Hermione had arrived back there. She had sent an owl the previous evening alerting Harry to await her visit at 10 AM that morning.

"Did you find out what was going on with the journal and the Horcrux?" asked Harry without so much as a 'hello.'

McGonagall did not seem to be offended by Harry's lack of courtesy, and seemed to be in quite a hurry herself. Her response was very to the point as well. She said, "Well, the Horcrux has indeed been destroyed, and the journal is not harboring dark magic. In fact, I was quite interested to find out what was making it possible for the journal to communicate with you. It'd take me a bit of time to explain what exactly was going on with it, and I don't have a lot of time right now, as the Governors are coming to my office at 10:30 to announce whether we can re-open. So, that means that it will be much more convenient for me if you would simply ask the journal to explain itself. I had to coax it a bit, especially as I didn't know how you came into possession of it, which was something that it was very curious about. But you should have an easy enough time with it. I was able to erase my conversation with it, although I daresay that it remembers me. Anyway, I must be off, so I'll just ask you to take these..." she handed Harry the journal and the locket, "and bid the Weasleys and Ms. Granger good day for me. Good-bye."

"Er... Good-bye," said Harry.

And with that, McGonagall pulled her head out of the fire. Harry tucked the journal under his shoulder, put the locket in his pocket, and went off in search of Hermione, Ron, and Ginny. He had been sitting alone because neither Ron, Hermione, or Ginny had been awake when he got out of bed at 9:30, so he had simply eaten breakfast by himself, and went off to wait for McGonagall while perusing a Defense Against the Dark Arts book.

The kitchen was still empty when Harry peeked in, so he went back to Ron's bedroom. Ron wasn't in bed, so Harry, slightly confused, took to the stairs once again, and then knocked on Ginny's door.

"Come in," mumbled three different voices. Harry opened the door to see Ron standing between the beds of Hermione and Ginny.

"I tried to wake them," explained Ron. "But they just wouldn't get out of bed! Anyhow... did you get the journal then?"

"Yeah, I've got it," said Harry, pulling it out from under his arm as Hermione and Ginny sat up on their beds to make room for the boys to sit down. "And McGonagall said that it's free of any dark magic. _And _she gave me permission to write to it and ask it questions."

"It's still good that you got it cleared though," said Hermione.

"Yeah, it was right stupid of you to try writing in it without checking with somebody first," opined Ginny, frowning.

"What about the Horcrux?" asked Ron, hastily changing the subject.

"Clean and soulless. Apparently our friend Rowena knew what she was doing. And now, I think, is the time to try to figure out exactly what else she knew," said Harry.

"Yeah, all right," agreed Hermione.

"Fine," said Ginny, slightly more hesitantly.

"Yeah, here you go," said Ron, picking up a quill and an inkwell from Ginny's nightstand.

Harry opened the journal to the second page, finding his unfinished conversation with the journal from the previous week. The journal was still inquiring of him how exactly he had happened to come about it.

"Well, er... I guess I'll just answer it then," said Harry, as he began to write.

"I was at the graveyard at Godric's Hollow, and I came across the grave of Rowena Augusta Byzanti. I just sort of... had this feeling that I was supposed to reach out and run my hand across the name. So I did, and a little door opened at the bottom of the grave."

There was a moment of tense silence after Harry had finished scratching the message onto the paper as the four teens awaited the journal's decision. Soon, the journal had written a response of its own.

"I see. So, I suppose it was you, then, who found the fake locket which I left in the cave where Voldemort had hidden his Horcrux."

Harry, ignoring the irony inherent in a journal claiming to see anything at all, quickly wrote a response, as Ginny read aloud the journal's response for the benefit of Hermione and Ron, who couldn't see it as well from where they were sitting on Ron's bed.

"Well, me and Professor Dumbledore, but yeah, how'd you know?" wrote Harry.

"Because I couldn't figure out any other way you would have seen any writing that I wrote with Ravenclaw's quill," responded the journal. Harry had the distinct feeling that the journal was teasing him on purpose, giving him answers that it knew he would not understand.

"What's Ravenclaw's quill got to do with this? Why would it matter if I had seen something written with it?" Harry scrawled quickly across the page.

"Ah, well... This is a bit of a long story... Do you have a bit?" inquired the journal.

"Yes, of course," wrote Harry. Ginny had continued reading everything that the journal spat out, and each Ginny, Harry, Ron, and Hermione were practically on the edge of their seats with curiousity, muttering under their breaths about this journal which was apparently building suspense on purpose.

"Well, it was my family's most prized heirloom, a quill enchanted by Ravenclaw herself, and the only known artfiact of Rowena Ravenclaw to survive the millenium between the time of the founders and the present day. It is commonly known that Rowena Ravenclaw was the most clever witch of all time, but you still might be shocked by how clever she needed to be to create this quill. The quill, of course, is the reason that this journal is able to write back to you and give you my knowledge and wisdome although I am dead. But that is not the quill's only power. You see, Ravenclaw was a very avid reader, and was amazed by the way that quills allow one person to convey their thoughts to another person. Of course, until clever Ravenclaw came around, a quill could only communicate thoughts which had been expressly written by the author. But one of the most unique features of Ravenclaw's quill is that if the author concentrates on a bit of wisdom or information while they write out their message, the reader will take that information into their subconscious. So when you read the note that I had left to Voldemort, you were instructed subconsciously to go to Godric's Hollow, where you would find my grave, and run your hand across my name."

Harry read through what was written so fast that the was already whipping through a response by the time Ginny was halfway through reading it aloud. Hermione's facial expression one of utter amazement mixed with admiration as she heard of the complex magic with which Ravenclaw had endowed her quill.

Harry, however, had spotted a hole in the story.

"But why would you want to communicate that information to Voldemort?" asked Harry. "You wrote to me earlier that you wanted to be sure I wasn't one of Voldemort's supporters before you told me anything."

"Well, I held out hope that someone other than Voldemort might find the note. And I knew that neither Voldemort nor any of his followers would be able to get their hands on the journal. See, you didn't know it, but to get the journal out of the headstone, you had to do more than simply run your fingers across my name. Before I passed away, I enchanted the name on the headstone to be able to sense things about anyone who touched it. I designed the headstone so that it would only open if touched by a person who contained a sufficient amount of certain noble emotions, such as love, humility, and independence. Qualities which Voldemort's supporters would never have. That way, if one of Voldemort's supporters got hold of the note, even though they would be compelled to go to Godric's Hollow, all they would find was a gravestone that they had an inexplicable desire to stroke. But if someone more worthy came across the headstone, they would be able to find this journal and use it, hopefully, as a means of coming across the other Horcruxes," responded the journal.

"You mean you know stuff about the other Horcruxes? Tell us!" wrote Harry, speedily.

"Ah... You're a Gryffindor, aren't you?" asked the journal, at which point Harry nearly threw it across the room in frustration at the fact that it refused to simply answer his question.

Unfortunately, the journal was apparently firmly in control of the conversation, as it was Harry who ended up answering the question posed to him, instead of having his own question answered.

"Yes," Harry responed tersely, having no idea why this should be important.

"Figures. You see, a Ravenclaw would realize that too much knowledge at once can be a dangerous thing. Whereas a Gryffindor... I suppose if I told you my hunches on where two of the remaining Horcruxes are hidden, you'd be off there within the hour, without any further preparation?" asked the journal. By this point, Ginny was speed-talking to keep up, as the journal's answers were so much longer than Harry's, and she was still several sentences behind.

"Yes, this is important!" responded Harry, almost tearing the paper in frustration.

"Then it's important enough to go into with full preparation," responded the journal. "I will tell you my hunches once you are ready. Until then, you will find little use in me until you start thinking less like a Gryffindor, and more like a Ravenclaw."

Harry threw his hands up in frustration, tossed the quill harshly back onto Ginny's nightstand, and shoved the journal toward Ginny so she could bring the others up to speed.

Harry wondered angrily why the answers to finding two of the remaining three Horcruxes had to lie in the journal of Ravenclaw's heir rather than a journal written by the heir of Gryffindor.

A/N: Whoo... Quite a long chapter, that one was, and difficult to write too. Had to put this down for awhile at several different points, which is why it took so long to update. Still... It was sort of fun to write. May not be quite as fun to proofread though. I'm thinking of trying to get a beta... I'm not quite sure if I'm going to, but would anybody be interested in beta-ing for me? If you're good with grammar, know your canon, and would be able to get back to me fairly quickly when I would send you a chapter, let me know in a review. Otherwise, just review anyway. You know, I've noticed recently that there really hasn't been much action so far in this story. Of course, there is a plot, which is something that many fanfictions lack (including pretty much every other fic I've written to this point...), so hopefully it has still been worth reading. So, let me know what you're liking or disliking about this fic so far, and I'll try to get an update up relatively soon. And thanks for reading!


	6. Letters and WaterBalloons

A/N: Thanks to all my reviewers. Once again, you guys are awesome! Just to clarify a few things: On the night that Dumbledore died, there were still at least 2 full weeks left in the term (as confirmed by Harry's rattling off to Ron how many more detentions he had yet to serve with Snape before Dumbledore's letter arrived summoning him to his office (HBP American Edition pg. 539)), and so it seems plausible (to me at least) that the O.W.L.s had not yet been administered. Also, in the time before Dumbledore's funeral, Harry reflects upon how it would have been to have free time with his friends once term had properly ended, with Ginny done with her exams (HBP American Edition pg. 634). So, those are my canon reasons for believing that Ginny would not yet have taken her O.W.L.s. Just wanted to clarify that, because someone had already mentioned in a review that they thought the O.W.L.s had been taken, and I wanted to defend my position on the matter before this chapter, in which it plays a bit of importance in the plot.

Chapter 6:

Letters and Water-Balloons

After shoving the journal from him in disgust that morning, it took quite awhile for Harry to summon the patience to have another go at it. He was having a bit of difficulty getting over the humiliation of being insulted by a journal, and also wasn't entirely sure how comfortable he was with the fact that this Rowena woman had been using an enchanted quill to influence his actions. As hard as he had fought with Hermione to prove that there was nothing sinister about his urge to write in the journal in the first place, he had to admit to himself that it was rather creepy to realize that his thoughts had not been all his own.

Of course, he was still under the influence of Ravenclaw's quill, whose last subliminal message to him, he now realized, had instructed him to write in the journal. The only difference was that now, he was taking a bit of pride in holding out against this urge, mostly to prove that he was in control of his own search for the Horcruxes, and not acting as the pawn of some deceased Heir of Ravenclaw.

Unfortunately, he was having a hard time coming up with any better ideas of how to find the Horcruxes. Still, he refused to concede defeat to the frustratingly conceited journal and come crawling back to it with promises to be more like a Ravenclaw in his search. He would not do something so humiliating. At least not until he had thought long enough about his situation to determine whether he had any other viable options.

In the meantime, Harry had quite enough else to occupy himself with, especially now that he had been given the task of running the D.A. as a formal club this year. He had given the matter a lot of thought, and realized that he was going to have to put a decent amount of effort into this task. It was quite clear that McGonagall felt she needed his help and he sympathized with his Transfiguration professor, who had been forced into the position of Headmistress despite the fact that she would have willingly remained in Dumbledore's shadow for the next decades if that had been possible. Beyond his personal sympathies toward McGonagall, Harry felt a personal allegiance to the institution of Hogwarts, which, if nothing else, had rescued him from the mundane world under the Dursleys' staircase.

Of course, he had been aware of his new position of authority ever since he had visited McGonagall's office with the journal and the locket, but the urgency of the situation was brought home by a letter which arrived at the Weasley's house on the first morning after Harry had temporarily given up on the idea of searching for answers in Rowena Byzanti's Journal.

The letter was delivered by a Hogwarts owl, and after Ginny read it, she swore and exclaimed, "Yes, well, guess I'll have to take my O.W.L.'s after all then!"

"But that's good, though, isn't it?" asked a confused Hermione from her spot opposite Ginny at the breakfast table.

"I suppose," responded Ginny in a defeated voice. "But I've only got another week to study the material now. The exams are being held during the first week of August."

Hermione, more stunned than before, chimed in with, "But why haven't you been studying for the entire time, then? Especially since Harry warned you last week that this letter would probably be coming soon? This should have given you _more _time to study, not less!"

"Well, I've had a hard time concentrating, you know? Aside from the simple fact that it's hard to get anything done when the weather's so nice, I've had to scan the headlines to find out what Voldemort and his followers are up to. Not exactly an environment conducive to studying, is it?" asked Ginny defiantly.

"Well, we'll help you study," resolved Hermione, who then turned on Ron and Harry. "Won't we?"

"Er, yeah," agreed Ron with exactly the amount of enthusiasm which would be expected of someone who was agreeing to hours of studying simply because his girlfriend wanted him to.

Harry, however, had other concerns. "So, that means Hogwarts is definitely re-opening, then?" he asked, reaching for the letter, which Ginny promptly extended to him, seemingly quite glad to be rid of the parchment which had brought such bad news.

The letter confirmed what Harry had expected. The Governors had agreed to re-open the school to anyone who was willing to attend and would therefore need to administer the tests which had been missed due to the premature ending of the term brought about by Dumbledore's death. The O.W.L.'s would be administered the first week of August while the N.E.W.T.'s would be held during the second week. The results of the N.E.W.T.s could wait longer considering that they would not impact anyone's course schedule during the upcoming school year.

"I wonder how many people will still attend?" asked Ron, who had returned to shoveling cereal into his mouth.

Harry was wondering the same thing, but he was willing to take more direct action than eating cereal to find out. Thus, after Hermione, Ron, and Harry quizzed Ginny for a couple of hours in preparation for her upcoming Charms test, Harry grabbed a piece of parchment and a quill from his trunk.

"Whatcha writing?" asked Ron, who was biting in to a chocolate frog. He had been the reason for the study break, as he had kept whining about how hungry he was.

"You'll find out in a moment," revealed Harry. "But it's not worth explaining it when you can just read it when I'm finished."

Ron, not in a mood to argue, simply sat down on his bed, where he was soon joined by Hermione (who had been getting her potions book so that she could quiz Ginny in that) and Ginny, who had just finished making some lemonade.

After scribbling on the paper for about a minute, Harry offered the paper to Ron, and took the lemonade that Ginny offered him. The bit of parchment turned out to contain the following note:

To All Members of Dumbledore's Army,

Although the namesake of our group has now passed on, we now have more reason to continue as a group than ever. Although we may still hold out hope of finally having a decent Defense Against the Dark Arts professor this year, this club can help not only in training a student-militia for self-defense, but can also strengthen inter-house unity. Having said this, I would like to gauge how much interest there will be in this group continuing at school next year. As a side-note, I suppose I should also ask how many of you are actually going to be showing up at school this year. I would ask that each of you send me a letter to let me know if you are coming back to rejoin the club this year. Also, please send this letter on to another member by (neatly) crossing out your name on the front, and writing their name underneath it. If we keep things neat, then everyone should be able to tell who has already gotten the letter and who has not. Oh, and there's no need to forward this to Ginny, Hermione, or Ron, as I have already informed them of my plans.

Thanks,

Harry.

Ron read the letter, gave a slight nod of approval, and passed it to Hermione.

"That's a good idea," she said, after reading the note, which she then passed to Ginny.

"I kind of reckon that the kids in the D.A. would be more likely than average to be brave enough to come back to Hogwarts," said Harry. "But that doesn't take into account their parents, who may keep them at home."

Hermione shook her head concernedly. "How anyone could think their kids would be better off at home than at Hogwarts..."

Harry, however, was busily scracthing out another note, speaking as he did. "Anyway, I'm going to send the note with Hedwig to Neville's house first, then he can send it to Luna. I'm sending them a special attachment to the letter. McGonagall gave me permission to appoint, you know, sort of deputies to help out with the leadership of the D.A., for when we're looking for the Horcruxes, or just need some extra help. I was thinking Neville, Luna, and you, Ginny, could help out."

"A deputy, eh?" asked Ginny, with a small smile. "Of course, if we're keeping the name Dumbledore's army, shouldn't we be generals, then?"

Harry grinned slightly. "Sure," he responded, making a small modification to the letter he was writing. A moment later, it read,

Neville and Luna,

Each of you have shone yourselves to be among the bravest students ever to attend Hogwarts. I know the two of you were especially displeased when we didn't continue D.A. meetings last year. So, first of all I would like to apologize for my bad judgment in letting the club stop. However, under Professor McGonagall's approval, the club will be back in existence this term. However, for reasons that I don't feel comfortable discussing in a letter, I may not be able to attend all the meetings, and may not be able to put as much time into planning the meetings as I should. Thus, I need a few "generals" to help in the administration of Dumbledore's Army. I was hoping that the two of you would please join with Ginny to fulfill this requirement. Please respond as soon as is convenient. If you decide to take this post, there will be an organizational meeting at Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes in Diagon Alley on the third Saturday of August at 3 pm.

-Harry.

As he reread what he had written before passing the note to Hermione to proofread, he was struck at how casually he had used the title "Dumbledore's Army," even using the name as justification for the "generals" joke. He wondered briefly whether such levity would be considered irreverent in light of Dumbledore's death.

But then Harry considered that Dumbledore was not the kind of man who could be remembered by grief alone. He was a remarkable man, and had been known for his humor among his many other positive attributes. So, it seemed, the "generals" joke was not quite out of line, and it would be all right to continue to use the name "Dumbledore's Army." It seemed fitting that the name of their fallen headmaster would be a banner under which his best students could unite to stand against the Dark Lord, never forgetting to keep up a proper sense of humor about the task whenever possible.

Once Hermione had read the letter, she pointed to the line which mentioned things that Harry wasn't "comfortable discussing in a letter." "Does this mean you're going to tell them about the Horcruxes too?"

"I think so," said Harry, nodding thoughtfully. "Unless you guys think it's a bad idea."

"I think you'll be all right," said Hermione. "They've both proven themselves loyal time and again. They'd die before telling a deatheater anything you told them."

"Well, at least Neville would," chimed in Ron. "And no one would believe Luna if she told them about the Horcruxes anyway." Although they all laughed at Ron's joke, each understood that, strange as she was, Luna was just as trustworthy as any of them.

The next morning, Neville's response arrived, followed by Luna's the morning after that. Each of them had been quite eager to accept Harry's offer of a position and each confirmed that they would be able to meet them in Diagon Alley on the suggested date, which was when the Weasleys were planning to go to Diagon Alley for school supplies.

Over the next few days, responses to the letter continued to trickle in from other members of Dumbledore's Army. By the time Sunday, which also happened to be Harry's birthday, rolled around, several of the members had responded.

The Patils were the first among the D.A. to inform Harry that they would not be attending Hogwarts that year.

"Sorry, Harry," their note had read, "but our parents really want us here. We're going to study on our own as much as we can, and maybe we'll be able to convince our parents to let us go and sit for the N.E.W.T.'s at the end of the year. Barring that, we've written McGonagall and she's agreed to let us complete our Seventh Year whenever things calm down again. He-who-must-be-named has got to be defeated sometime, right? Afterall, he can't be immortal, can he?"

When he was done reading this letter, it struck Harry once again how much more he knew about Voldemort than most of his peers.

However, the other responses to his letter had been more on the encouraging side. Ernie Macmillan was quick to promise that he would most definitely be attending both Hogwarts and whatever D.A. meetings may occur there. Susan Bones had affirmed that she'd be there as well. Seamus Finnigan and Dean Thomas had responded jointly because, as the letter explained, Seamus was staying at Dean's house for the summer after having left his own.

Once he had come of age in early July, Seamus had announced to his mother that he would be attending Hogwarts that fall. She had expressly forbidden him to do so, and so Seamus responded that since he had passed his apparition test, there was really nothing she could do to enforce that rule. She had agreed that this was in fact the case, but apparently still felt the need to prove that she was in control over some part of the situation because she subsequently kicked him out of the house.

"I know she'll come to her senses eventually," Seamus had wrote in his letter to Harry, "but I'm not going to hold my breath. In the meantime, both Dean and I will come to the D.A. meetings. Anyhow, say hi to everyone at the Burrow for us. And... er... Dean says he wants Ginny to know that he's now going out with Lavender Brown and so there's no hard feelings."

"He's going out with _Lavender_?" Ron grinned after Harry had read this letter out loud on the morning of his birthday, when it had arrived.

"Apparently," said Harry, glancing at the letter again.

"Well, good luck to him then," smirked Ron.

Another letter which arrived that morning was from Gringotts, which informed Harry that he had now passed into full possession of his inheritance from his parents, having now come of age. He had not read this letter out loud, seeing as he was still embarassed by the fact that the Weasleys continually refused to let him help them out financially, although their lot had been improving as of late owing to Mr. Weasley's promotion at the Ministry and Fred and George's financial windfalls.

Harry's birthday was a pleasant occasion, as several Order members, as well as Fred and George came to wish Harry a happy birthday.

There was a small dinner party in honor of Harry's coming of age in the Weasleys' back yard, where several tables were set up. After a picnic-style dinner, Harry was encouraged to open his presents.

The Weasley twins' present had been by far the most entertaining. They had gotten him what at first seemed to be a pack of normal, unfilled Muggle water-balloons. However, once he opened the package and removed a balloon, it magically filled itself with water and tied its own knot. This would have been impressive enough to satisfy Harry, but George was grinning widely at Harry's amazed expression.

"You haven't even seen the best part yet," he said. "Go on, throw it at somebody."

Everybody got up out of their chairs, and backed away from Harry a couple steps.

"Oh, fine, throw it at me then," said Fred with an overly dramatic sigh.

So, Harry threw it at Fred, splattering him with water as the balloon broke on his shoulder. The spent plastic encasing fell to the grass in front of Fred, but as Harry watched, it began to mend itself. Within about three seconds, it had repaired itself to the status of being a filled and knotted water-balloon, although Fred's clothing remained wet. The balloon then floated itself back into Harry's hand.

"We present to the public: Weasleys' Reusable Water-Balloons!" exclaimed Fred.

The next hour passed in pretty much of a blur as Harry Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Fred, George, and even Bill, Fleur, Tonks, and Lupin grabbed balloons from Harry's pack and began chasing each other around the Weasleys' back yard with them.

However, at about 7:30 pm, Mrs. Weasley had the unfortunate duty of calling the fun to a stop. "I'm sorry, but we've really got to get going. Ginny, you know the Hogwarts' Express leaves in an hour and a half." The Hogwarts Express was making a special run from London to Hogsmeade in order to allow for the transportation of the Fifth Years, who needed to take their O.W.L.'s but had not, of course, passed their Apparition tests as of yet.

"I should probably get going too," said Hermione apologetically. "I told my parents to expect me this evening."

As Mrs. Weasley bustled off into the Burrow in order to check to make sure Ginny had properly packed all of her school-books, everyone said their good-byes to Hermione and Ginny. Each Harry and Ron's farewell to his respective girlfriend involved an intricate bit of snogging which the author feels is best left to the reader's imagination.

Ten minutes later, Hermione had disapparated and Ginny and her mother had Flooed to a location in London from which they would walk to the train station. The other visitors left in turn, soon leaving Ron and Harry alone at the house with a rather sleepy Arthur Weasley, who soon excused himself to bed.

"So. Game of Wizard's Chess then, do you reckon?" asked Ron, after the pair of them had made their way back up to Ron's room.

"Maybe in a bit," responded Harry distractedly.

"Why, what's up?" asked Ron, who was mentally cursing Hermione for leaving just before Harry decided to get all distracted and complicated. Decoding people's emotions was most definitely Hermione's territory, not Ron's.

"Nothing," Harry sighed. "I just think maybe I ought to have another go at cracking that Rowena woman's journal."

"Oh, that?" asked Ron, relieved. "Sure, by all means, have another go. Just stop sighing like that. Why's it got you so worked up, anyway?"

"I dunno," said Harry, honestly. "It's hard to describe. That Rowena woman just seems to be such an abrasive character. A bit conceited too. It's just I'd rather not get too dependent on a journal for answers, especially one that's been so uncooperative. But it seems its our only hope."

"Yeah, I s'pose it does," agreed Ron. "D'you mind if I read what she's got to say, though?"

"'Course not," said Harry, reluctantly pulling the journal out from where he had been keeping it tucked into his trunk, well hidden from his own view.

A sudden inspiration struck Harry, who had been wondering how he was going to start this conversation with Ravenclaw's deceased heir. He wrote,

"So why did you call Voldemort 'The Dark Lord' in the note that you left him in the fake Horcrux? Couldn't you just write his name out?"

The journal's response was quick, as if it had not been ignored for the last seven days running.

"Force of habit, mostly. I had been calling him that any time I saw him, when I was pretending to be a Death-Eater. I had already written it out like that before I realized what I was doing. Once I did, I considered changing it to 'Voldemort,' or even using his given name, 'Tom Riddle.' But in my final analysis, I determined that it would be deliciously ironic if someone who was revealing that they had just duped him and stolen one of his Horcruxes would address him in such a tone of respect. So, I kept it how it was. I always have been a big fan of irony."

"Right," wrote Harry irritably, rather disappointed that he had not been able to find a concrete fault in the journal-writer's judgment. "So, are you going to tell me where the Horcruxes are then?"

"Of course not," responded the journal. "You're not nearly prepared for that yet. But, I do have a story for you, if you're prepared to do a bit of reading. I want to tell you of my time at Hogwarts, which, as you'll know if you have been doing your homework, happened to be contemporaneous with Voldemort's time at Hogwarts."

When they read that bit, each Ron and Harry gave a slight gasp.

"So, you hadn't realized that either?" asked Harry with a slight grin.

"Nah," responded Ron. "Betcha Hermione had it figured out though."

"Yeah, well, she could have told us," Harry said. Then he wrote,

"All right, I'm all ears. Or eyes, rather. Whatever. Just tell me what Voldemort was like at Hogwarts. Surely, if you're half as clever as you seem to think you are, you must have saw through him even then."

The journal responded, "I can assure you that I am quite fully as clever as I seem to think I am, and indeed much more clever than _you _seem to think I am. Indeed, myself and two friends, each fellow Ravenclaws, had our suspicions about Riddle. Of course, the Headmaster at the time, a fellow named Dippet, was not quite trusting of us. Riddle had a way of winning people over to his side."

"What was it that tipped you off about him, then?" asked Harry, now grudgingly allowing himself to become interested in what the journal was revealing. It could be useful indeed to learn things about Riddle's time at Hogwarts from a student's perspective. Especially from the perspective of a student as inquistive as Rowena Byzanti seemed to be. Harry could not help but admit to himself that Rowena's relationship with Riddle sounded similar to Harry's own relationship with Malfoy and could not help but wonder whether Rowena and her two friends had spied on Riddle like he, Ron, and Hermione had on Malfoy. If so, perhaps her account of Riddle could offer enlightenment which had not been offered by the scant memories which Dumbledore could find about the young Riddle.

"Well, I must admit that even upon my arrival at Hogwarts, I was quite biased against the House of Slytherin," the journal responded. "My family had, of course, been Ravenclaws for as long as anyone can remember, and my Mum claimed we'd been an unbroken chain of Ravenclaws all the way back to Ravenclaw's grand-daughter, who had been among the first students at Hogwarts in the time of the founders. Anyway, Ravenclaw had never much cared for Slytherin, and neither did I. The Sorting Hat hadn't even touched Riddle's head before declaring him a Slytherin. Of course, Hannah (she was one of my two best friends whom I've already mentioned. The other, for future reference, was named Mary.) opined that the reason for that was that the Sorting Hat hadn't wanted to defile itself by touching that foul head of his. Just to clarify, of course, it wasn't that his head _looked _foul. He was not bad looking, as I recall. Of course, he did have that odd hungry look about his eyes... Even Minerva McGonagall noticed that, and she was a Gryffindor."

"You knew McGonagall?" wrote Harry.

"Yes. Not well, or anything. But we spoke a few times. She was two years my senior. She started school in 1936. Riddle and I started in '38. You know, I applied for the Transfiguration Professor post against her, and she got it over me. Imagine! A Gryffindor getting the post of Transfiguration Professor over a Ravenclaw. Transfiguration is an art that requires intelligence and concentration. I've never heard of anybody turning a salt-shaker into a rabbit by impressing it with her bravery! Honestly!"

"McGonagall's a great Transfiguration Professor," wrote Harry, who was slightly surprised to see himself do so. "But what else can you tell me about Riddle?"

"I can tell you a lot about Riddle. But you have obviously not followed my advice to become more Ravenclaw-esque in your search for knowledge. You'll have to think of more intelligent questions if you want answers from me. I think I'm done with you for the night, in fact. Put me down for a bit, and pick me back up when you've worked out exactly what it is that you want to know."

"I want to know where the bloody Horcruxes are hidden!" wrote Harry in large letters. However, the journal did not respond.

Harry looked at Ron, who shrugged. "Maybe we should make sure Hermione's here next time we write to it. I've sometimes wondered why she's not a Ravenclaw, you know."

A/N: Once again with the not really being sure how to end the chapter. But, it had to end someplace. As a matter of fact, this chapter isn't really even supposed to be here. I had intended chapter 6 to be the start of term. But, apparently, Hogwarts wasn't quite ready for the start of term yet, so whatever... Still, I've come to the conclusion that I'll have to knock out some of the chapters that were supposed to be included later on, so this story still shouldn't exceed 30 chapters. Anyhow, I hope this chapter wasn't boring or anything. I'm flattered by all the positive reviews and everything, but it's almost made me feel as if I've got a reputation or something to uphold now. Oh well. I'll go try to stop taking myself so seriously if you'll just take a minute to review. And thanks for reading!


	7. Grindelwald's Defeat

A/N: First off, I would like to thank a few of my more critical reviewers for having pointed things out that inspired a bit of change in the story. First off, in light of HugeHarryPotterFan's observation that it would be too risky for Harry to send out an owl giving away his location, the note to the D.A. from last chapter has been revised. I'm currently kicking myself for having written it that way in the first place. And "TheUnknown4's" comments helped to inspire Harry's decision to be more vague than he (and I) had previously planned while talking to Luna and Neville by pointing out reasons why Harry should limit the number of people he tells. I find it flows better this way anyway. Thus, thanks to all of my reviewers, including the critical ones, and I hope this helps to prove that I really do mean it when I say I'm trying to make this story a good and believable one. Also, Old-Crow asked how I got my dates for when Voldemort and McGonagall attended Hogwarts. I got my information at the Harry Potter Lexicon, www dot hp-lexicon dot org. Anyway, enjoy this chapter, please.

Chapter 7

Grindelwald's Defeat

For the next several days, Harry did what he could to stop thinking about the journal. He had enough else to concentrate on, as it was. First off, he had a D.A. club to figure out how to run.

It looked like a decent number of the club were coming back. Justin Finch-Fletchley, for one, was coming back. As was Hannah Abbot. The Creevey brothers were staying home, though, which somewhat upset Harry. Even if they were rather annoying sometimes, they were really loyal, and at least had their hearts in the right place. But their muggle parents had heard bits and pieces of the events that were going on at Hogwarts that year (apparently, the Ministry had felt it to be its duty to keep the parents of muggle-borns at Hogwarts informed of events in the Wizarding world), just enough, apparently, to decide that it was an unfit place for their children to attend school. Harry hoped that whenever the war was resolved, they would be able to come back to Hogwarts like the Patils were planning to.

Lavender planned to come back to the club as well, a revelation that Ron had not been overly thrilled about. She had at least been civil in her letter, though. Apparently, the fact that she was now dating Dean allowed her to put Ron behind her. At least that was how Harry had read the message, "And tell Ron that, you know, I hope it won't be awkward for him to see me there. 'Cause I think he's an all right guy, most days."

"Eloquent, that one," Ron joked, when Harry showed him what his previous girlfriend had wrote.

Zacharias Smith would not be returning either, although Harry hadn't been able to get himself too worked up over that revelation. In fact, he hadn't even heard it from Smith himself, but instead from Anthony Goldstein, who had been another member of the original D.A. Apparently he was still in sporadic communication with Smith, and informed Harry that he wouldn't be attending school instead of actually forwarding the letter to Smith. Harry found the move to be a wise one, as he reckoned Smith may not have forwarded the letter. Anthony Goldstein, on the other hand was returning to school, and would continue with the D.A.

Another problem Harry was trying to work out was exactly what he was going to tell Neville and Luna when he met with them at Weasleys' Wizards Wheezes later that month. He figured he was at least going to have to tell them that he was off on a mission to try to thwart Voldemort, but he wasn't too sure whether he should tell him about the Horcruxes, and if so, how much he should tell them. He strongly believed that they were trustworthy, but if they did end up getting captured, then they could be forced to reveal more than they wanted to against their will. Of course, if Luna or Neville were to get captured, then Harry reckoned he would have bigger problems than whether Voldemort knew that Harry knew about the Horcruxes. Still, it might be best if they didn't know any of the specifics. For instance, it was conceivable that if Voldemort knew that Harry knew that Nagini and Hufflepuff's cup were Horcruxes, he might at least go about making the Horcruxes harder to find. So, maybe he would just tell Neville and Luna that there were some things that he needed to look for in order to beat Voldemort.

Harry tried running this plan by Ron, but he wasn't much help. Harry had the feeling that Ron probably would have agreed with most anything Harry said so as to avoid an argument. As soon as Ginny got home after a week of taking her O.W.L.'s, Harry asked her her opinion as well. That is to say, he consulted her right after he was done assuring her that he was sure she must have done a great job on her O.W.L.'s. She seemed to think that Harry's planned explanation for Luna and Neville seemed reasonable.

But Harry still felt that he needed Hermione's assessment before he made his plans final. It wasn't that he felt he wasn't an effective leader on his own or anything, but he still valued Hermione's opinion. She was, after all, the cleverest student in all of Hogwarts, and had been with him from the beginning.

She got back to the Burrow on a Friday, on the day before they were set to go to Diagon Alley. After exchanging formal greetings in front of the rest of the Weasleys at the dinner table, Hermione, Harry, Ginny, and Ron went off to Ginny's room to have one of their increasingly popular four-person conferences.

"So, did you get any leads while I was gone?" asked Hermione, as soon as the door was shut. She had been kept in the dark about anything regarding the Horcruxes or the D.A. while she was at her parents house because it wasn't worth risking the message being intercepted.

"No. That Rowena woman really doesn't seem all that eager to help us out. Besides, she seems to be such a show-off know it all that if she did know something about the Horcruxes, I don't much see her keeping it to herself," said Harry.

Hermione looked for a second as if she was considering being offended by the reference to a show-off know it all, but decided against it. "You're sure you got all the information out of it that you can?"

"Well... no," admitted Harry. "But I can't really think of how to convince her to help either. So I've been giving that a rest and thinking more about the D.A. I've been doing loads of research on defensive spells and stuff, and I was thinking of distributing some spells to each Neville, Luna, and Ginny to have them teach the rest of us. My main issue right now is how much we really ought to tell them. I've been having some doubts about whether I should tell them all about the Horcruxes. I think that maybe if I'm just vague about where it is that the three of us will be going, that might be best."

"That's probably not a bad idea," agreed Hermione. "Especially as Professor Dumbledore himself limited the number of people he told, so it seems that it would be best for you to do the same. And there were certainly a lot of people that Dumbledore thought he could trust that he didn't tell about this. Like Snape. And it's good he didn't."

"You're not suggesting that Neville or Luna might be a traitor, are you?" asked Ginny.

"Of course not," said Hermione. "I'm just saying that there were things that even Dumbledore couldn't foresee, and so he was wise to be cautious. And we should follow that example."

"Motion seconded," said Ron, grinning.

And so the stage was set for the next day's meeting with the other leaders for the upcoming year of the D.A.

Harry woke up in a fairly good mood, and ate breakfast in a more cheerful manner than he normally would have done. He was rather looking forward to seeing Luna and Neville, not to mention the Weasley twins, who were always good for a laugh, at least.

Still, something happened during breakfast that morning that rather caught him off his guard. An official looking owl came through the window. Ginny had been looking up to the window out of habit (she had had a tense time waiting for her O.W.L. results during the past couple weeks) but by the time the owl had gotten there, she remembered that she had already gotten her O.W.L. results. The results, incidentally were good enough to allow her to continue in Herbology, Potions, Charms, Defense Against the Dark Arts, and Transfiguration, which was good because not only would it allow her to get a good general education (considering that she was not yet entirely sure what she wanted to do after Hogwarts), but it would also mean she could use Hermione's old notes to help her study, since Hermione seemed to save all the notes she had ever taken.

It turned out that the official looking owl had a letter for Harry instead. It bore the Hogwarts' Crest and when opened read as follows,

"The Late Headmaster's portrait has cordially reminded me (several times today, actually) that you still have not seen the other memory which he left to you. He's quite insistent that it's rather important and should be shown to you at your earliest possible convenience, preferably this weekend. If you could just pop into my fire to let me know when you'll be coming, that would be helpful so that I can de-activate the nastier security precautions to allow you to enter safely.

Sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall

Headmistress, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."

Harry promptly asked Mrs. Weasley if he could use some Floo Powder, and stuck his head into the fire, assuming that McGonagall would be up and in her office, in spite of the earliness of the hour, considering that she had not specified a more appropriate time in her letter.

It turned out that Harry was correct in assuming that the Headmistress would be present, but she was apparently not in a very talkative mood, as she simply nodded and said, "Yes, that will do," when he informed her that he would have to put the meeting off until the next day considering that he was going to Diagon Alley that day.

Unsure of what else to say, Harry simply said, "Right then, well... I'll just go do that then, shall I?" and pulled his head back out of the fire. Harry reckoned that the tension surrounding her new position as Headmistress must be giving McGonagall a lot of stress to make her that laconic. He cringed slightly at the thought of Transfiguration lessons with the woman, which were set to start in less than two weeks.

Six hours later, after Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny, along with their Order chaperones, had hit all the necessary spots in Diagon Alley, they made their way to the twins' shop to meet with Luna and Neville.

When Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny entered into the twins' shop at about ten 'til three that afternoon, they were greeted by Fred and George themselves.

"How much of a hurry are you in?" asked Fred, no sooner than they had let themselves through the door. Harry had, of course, requested their permission to hold the meeting there, so Fred knew that Harry had an appointment.

"Not too much," said Harry after glancing at his watch. "Why, what's up?"

"Well..." said George, as he and Fred approached the group to a distance at which none of the other customers could catch what they were saying, "we've got a new product we thought you might want to... er... sample."

Harry surveyed their faces and noticed a pair of malicious grins with which he found himself not entirely comfortable. "This isn't another line of skiving snackboxes or something, is it?"

"Of course not," said Fred, allowing his grin to widen. "We've got paid employees to test that kind of thing on."

"With their expressed consent, of course," George hastened to add, after catching a rather nasty glance from Hermione.

"Of course," agreed Fred. "But anyway... here it is." He surprised Harry by pulling from the pocket of his robes something that looked like a muggle lighter.

"You see... what this does is... you point it at something," said George, pointing the end of the object which contained a button toward a package of ton tongue toffees.

"Then you click it," explained Fred, as George clicked the object, "and the object becomes invisible." He grinned with pride as the package of toffees did indeed become invisible.

"You click the button a second time to make the thing visible again, so you can only use it for one object at a time. And of course, the object never really vanishes, it'll still be there if a person touches it, but it's still worth a few laughs, you know? We call it an 'enshrouder' by the way. We figured that since you're going back to school with dear old Filch this year, we'd give you the prototype so, that you can mess with him and... anyone else you like really," said George, handing the enshrouder to Harry, after having first clicked its button to allow the package of toffees to reappear.

"But especially Filch," specified Fred.

"Not that we hold a grudge or anything. We're far too mature for grudges," said George.

"It just strikes us," clarified Fred, "that even though we're currently in a large-scale war with He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named at the moment, doesn't mean we should forget the small-scale villains of our world."

"'Course, without him, we never would have found the Marauders' Map," conceded George.

"Ah, the good old days," said Fred with a reminiscent smile.

Harry, meanwhile, was pointing the enshrouder half-heartedly in various directions trying to decide what he would test it out on first. When he happened to point it toward Ginny, George spoke up again, "Oh, and we probably ought to tell you that it tends to work best on smaller objects. For instance, it won't work on people."

"But it does tend to make their clothes disappear," said Fred, with a grin. Then, he made quite an effort to straighten his face into a more serious expression with which to look at Hermione when he said, "Although that is in no way the kind of behavior we would endorse."

"But seriously," said George, thoughtfully, "no pointing it at our sister, mate."

"Oh, right," said Harry, his face reddening slightly as he shoved the enshrouder in his pocket for safe-keeping.

At that moment, Neville walked into the shop, followed by his grandmother, who looked decidedly out of place surrounded by joke equipment. However, she made an ardent attempt to browse the items on sale as her grandson made his way over to Harry and the others. Apparently, Neville had already told his grandmother that he was there to discuss matters which could only be discussed in private with Harry Potter. No doubt, his grandmother had been pleased enough with the prospect of Neville meeting on any kind of important business at all that she had swallowed any complaints that she might have had about waiting for him.

Luna floated in a few moments later, and Fred and George led them back to the storage room.

"Not exactly a conference room," said Fred.

"But you know, our main investor seemed to think that jokes were more important than conferences, so what can you do?" asked George, with a grin at Harry.

With that, Fred and George exited the room, Fred calling, "We'll make sure to keep our staff busy out here, nobody will be back here to bother you."

Hermione quickly put up an Imperturbable Charm on the door to prevent eavesdroppers as Harry wondered whether it was paranoia or wise caution that would prompt fear of eavesdroppers at a joke shop.

Harry surveyed the group before speaking, conscious, as he always was when he was in a formal leadership position, of the habit of everyone's eyes to focus on him. He shook this self-conscious feeling off fairly quickly though. After all, it wasn't as if people's eyes didn't tend to gravitate toward him even when he wasn't trying to lead them.

Hermione, Ron, and Ginny were sitting comfortably on some boxes. Confident that they had probably heard everything Harry was going to say already anyhow, they were mostly there as a formality. Neville, however, looked fairly excited to be included in the meeting in the first place. Luna looked as if she was not entirely aware of her surroundings at all.

"So, er... As you all know, I've been asked to continue Dumbledore's Army this term. However, I've got some other pressing matters that I will need to attend to next school year as well, including a search for certain objects which I need to find before I can face Voldemort." Harry had perfectly crafted this statement to be as ambiguous as possible. He hadn't actually lied, but had still managed to make it sound more as if he was trying to find weapons to fight with rather than to destroy Voldemort's defense strategy, which was much closer to the truth. When faced with this tantalizing tidbit, Neville gaped a bit, almost falling off the edge of the box he was sitting on. Even Luna looked mildly interested.

"Hermione and Ron will probably be coming with me on my searches, so I'm going to need some people to lead the D.A. if I ever happen to be absent during a meeting, or... or an emergency like we had at the end of last term. Everybody in this room performed spectacularly that night, and you've proven yourself capable of handling anything the Death-Eaters can throw at you." Harry found his voice rising a bit, quite independently of his own will-power.

"Also, it wouldn't be fair to the D.A. to only have me teach them. If we combine our resources and time, we can come up with far better meetings than I could do on my own. So, Ginny, Neville, and Luna, in addition to filling in as the leadership of the club when Ron, Hermione, and I are gone, you'd also help lead the group while I'm there. You can also help out with publicity and stuff like that, to replenish the numbers of the club now that fewer people will be attending the school this year, not to mention the numbers we've lost to natural graduation. I think Ernie MacMillan was right two years ago when he said that learning Defense Against the Dark Arts is the most important thing we can do at school, and I can't think of any people better than the three of you to help teach it," Harry concluded. "So, now that you know the details, are you still in?"

Neville nodded fiercely, and Luna nodded in a more calm manner, while Ginny simply gave a half-nod which was unnecessary as Harry had already known her answer.

"All right. Unfortunately, then, the first thing I'm going to have to do is give you a bit of homework. Why don't each of you pick one defensive spell that we haven't yet covered in the meetings that you think you could learn and teach to the rest of the group? Then, at the first couple meetings, that's how we'll start things off. Sound good?" asked Harry.

"Sure," said Neville quickly.

"Works for me," said Luna quietly.

"Sure, whatever," said Ginny in a mock passive-agressive tone. She was able to keep a straight face for a good two seconds before breaking out into a grin.

"Harry, I know we're not, like, official generals or whatever..." started Hermione. "But do you reckon Ron and I should look up spells too?"

"Well, I kinda thought that once we got back to school, you might be more occupied in using the Hogwarts Library to try to do research on the stuff we're searching for, but if you think you'll have time, feel free," responded Harry.

"I'm sure we can make some time," said Hermione.

"Sure thing, mate," agreed Ron with a grin.

The next day, early in the afternoon, Harry found himself facing McGonagall at her desk, upon which Dumbledore's Pensieve sat once again.

Before putting Dumbledore's memory into the Pensieve, McGonagall surveyed Harry across the desk. She had a tired look on her face that somehow reminded Harry of Dumbledore.

"Have you put any thought into how you're going to run Dumbledore's Army this year, then?" asked McGonagall.

"Yes, in fact, I met with Neville and Luna yesterday. They and Ginny have each agreed to be sort of stand-in leaders for when Hermione, Ron, and me are away searching for the Horcruxes, and to help research spells and stuff while we're busy doing research," said Harry.

"Very good. And has Rowena's journal been much help in that search?" asked McGonagall.

"Not so much as I had hoped, no. She's a very hard person to get along with," said Harry.

"She was worse in person," replied McGonagall. "I remember in my Fifth year, being a prefect and trying to keep her from mouthing off to me. Thought she was so clever, that one. Of course, I never expected her journal to be a cure-all solution, and I'd be surprised if she knows much more than we do. Of course, I couldn't get her to give me a straight answer on that, when I was looking at the journal... She'd just keep asking me if I _really _thought that I, being a Gryffindor, had figured out more than she, a Ravenclaw. But frankly, I'm surprised that she was even able to find one Horcrux, so I wouldn't put too much hope in finding out much more from her. Still, if you continue to find yourself at a dead-end, you've got one source that you can always go back to, in whatever doses you can handle her."

Harry smiled at his Headmistress, vaguely amused to recognize in her voice the irritation that had reigned within himself during his brief encounters with Rowena.

"At any rate," said McGonagall, frowning slightly, "why don't we let you see this memory so that you may be on your way?"

"All right," agreed Harry as McGonagall took a phial full of Dumbledore's memories from the cupboard and poured it into the Pensieve.

"Now, the letter with my instructions on it mentioned that this was actually a string of memories, so you may be in there for awhile," warned McGonagall.

"Okay, said Harry, as he tipped himself once more into Dumbledore's pensieve.

He found the old man sitting once again at his desk.

"Ah, Harry, back again," said Dumbledore, with a small smile. "Ironically, I actually recorded this memory before recording my final message to you, so for me, you'd actually be back a first time. But, be that as it may, I have something rather important to show you. I have no idea at present how far along you will be on the quest for the Horcruxes when you view this memory, but I hope that you will have, at most, three left to find, as the locket will hopefully be destroyed later on tonight. It may seem like the final Horcruxes will take forever to find, but you have Professor McGonagall there to help you, as well as Ron and Hermione, so I'm sure you will find them somehow. Your resourcefulness has not stopped amazing me yet. With this in mind, we would do well to look forward to a time when you have destroyed all of the Horcruxes and find yourself ready to seek battle with a fully mortal Voldemort. I am not sure that you will be fully prepared to use Unforgivable Curses at that time, and I am also not entirely sure that I would want you to be, considering the types of emotions required to cast such spells, and the emotional scarring that can go along with them. With this in mind, I would like to show you another option, although I would never presume to deny you of your right to deal with your parents' murderer in whatever way you see fit. What you are about to see is my battle with the Dark Wizard Grindelwald back in 1945. You will probably not understand all of what you see at first glance, but I am about to create another memory in which I shall explain it to you. So, I'll see you in a bit. Or, you'll see me, at any rate."

Dumbledore's office dissolved around him, and momentarily, Harry found himself in the midst of a battle. He heard the sounds of screaming, of walls cracking, and of curses being mumbled before he was able to place where he was or what was going on.

He realized that he was indoors, and as he looked around some more, he realized that he was in the Atrium to the Ministry of Magic. The Fountain of the Magical Brethren had not yet been installed, but Harry still recognized the area due to the magical elevators lining its sides and its high ceiling.

At the moment, no less than a hundred wizards and witches were crammed into the space. Harry searched around for one he could recongized, and found himself unable to do so until his eyes fell on Albus Dumbledore.

Dumbledore and his opponent were standing toward the center of the room about five paces from each other. Everyone else was scattered around, though everyone seemed to maintain a respectful distance from Dumbledore and the man who Harry was now sure was Grindelwald, although he had never seen a picture of the man.

Grindelwald looked to be about 50, and had long black hair which was showing signs of graying. He was clothed in robes of black and red. He was moving his wand quickly through the air, no doubt making the appropriate movements to go along with spells which he was performing non-verbally. Periodically, jets of light would fly out of his wand.

Dumbledore, however, seemed to be defending himself quite capably, swishing his own wand back and force as well, also not needing to say his spells out loud. Harry was reminded of the time just over a year ago when he had seen Dumbledore do battle with Voldemort in this very room. However, Harry noted, Grindewald was not quite as skilled as Voldemort, while Dumbledore, if anything, was even more skillful than he would be when he faced Voldemort. Perhaps age had affected the great wizard after all.

While the people around the atrium dueled, and screamed, and fought, and died, leaving their surviving opponent to find another enemy, Grindewald and Dumbledore remained locked in their bitter struggle, each seeming to have an answer to the other's spell until Dumbledore finally spoke a spell out loud.

"Pathei Emou," said Dumbledore in a strong voice which seemed to carry throughout the hall.

The spell, which was a beam of gold-white light, hit Grindewald, but seemed to have no physical effect. He stood still for a moment, gazing at Dumbledore, but his wand had stopped moving. Slowly, his wand armed dropped. He fell to his knees, the battle still raging around him. Dumbledore, with a look of grim satisfaction, lowered his own wand as the Dark Wizard Grindewald let out a wail. Slowly, one by one, the supporters of Grindewald throughout the Atrium lowered their wands in confusion, shocked by the behavior of their leader. Those fighting on Dumbledore's side began to cast stunning spells on their disheartened enemies. The battle had been won. But Harry had no idea how.

The battle dissolved around him, and he found himself once more in Dumbledore's office.

"What happened there?" asked Harry, forgetting for an instant that Dumbledore could not hear him.

"An odd spell, that one," commented Dumbledore airily. "You see, what it does is, it allows the caster to force an emotional memory on their opponent. The memory involved is on a different level than one that can be stored in a Pensieve, though. You see, a memory stored in a Pensieve is objective, anyone can look at it, and they see it from a third person perspective, much as you are doing now. But if you use the spell that you just saw me use, you make the person _live _the memory, just as you did, full of emotions. Grindelwald, like Voldemort, was sadly deficient in the ability to love. It was his greatest weakness, but in some ways, his greatest strength. He was able to kill anyone he wanted without any thought of the love that others could feel for the person he was killing. So what I did was, I forced a memory upon him of how I felt for the woman I had once loved.

"In that instant, he understood for the first time in his life the beauty of love; quite against his own will, of course. And a sorcerer finds it impossible to properly perform dark magic while overcome with the emotion of love. Of course, this does not mean that all Death Eaters have never loved, it simply means that they are able to force the emotion out of their mind for long enough to perform their dark magic. But with Grindelwald, I had forced the emotion upon him, bringing it to the forefront of his mind. He lost the will to fight, and beside that, he was tormented psychologically by the concept of love. It went against everything he had done in the past several years. I am not sure what made him wail as if in pain during the memory that you just saw. It could have been guilt for all the atrocities he had committed, or it could have been immense hatred and disgust for the emotion that he was being forced to feel. Either way, he was taken out of the battle on a psychological level, and so he and all of his closest supporters were rounded up. He was administered the Dementor's Kiss less than a week later. You know how I feel about that form of punishment, but although I attempted to plead for imprisonment for the man, his case was lost once the effects of the spell wore off and he started spouting off about how much he hated everyone and how he would kill us all if given half the chance.

"In case you were wondering, by the way, about the woman who I loved, she was a woman who I had known when I was much younger, in my thirties. We had fallen in love, and we had gotten married, but unfortunately, she was fated to die young. And yet my love for her had been so strong that I was able to call up a memory during which it had been particularly strong, and use that to defeat Grindelwald. I believe that such a spell may work for you as well, given Voldemort's usual reaction when forced to feel love, so I would ask you at least to have McGonagall teach you the spell or have someone else teach you. That way, you can use it if you see fit. And now, once again, Harry, I must bid you farewell." Dumbledore smiled serenely and then he waved at Harry as the memory dissolved around him and Harry found himself back in the Headmaster's office of the present day, finding himself once again emerging from Dumbledore's pensieve with tears welling up in his eyes.

A/N: All right, so there's that. Next chapter we should finally see the trio (and assorted other characters...) back at Hogwarts. Admittedly, some of the stuff in this chapter was just there because it had to be mentioned, but there were bits that I liked, at least. And I'm hoping that I pulled off the Grindelwald-battle/spell thing all right, so if you're trying to think of something to comment on in a review, I'd love to know your opinion about that. The inspiration for the spell, incidentally, comes partially from a quote I've heard that says something to the extent of that if each man knew the pain in each others' past, they'd be unwilling to cause each other more pain. If anyone knows the quote that I'm talking about, and could remind me who said it, or a more exact wording, that'd be appreciated too. But otherwise, a review about the chapter in general would be great. As always, positive or negative reviews are welcome. And thanks for reading!


	8. Start of Term

A/N: Just to address some issues reviewers seem to have been having: Well, first off, a lot of people seemed not to like the whole love spell, and think it's too easy. First off, let me say that I know the idea isn't _entirely _original, as a lot of stories I've read have Harry casting some sort of spell having to do with love on Voldemort to finish him off, but I tried to add my own take on it. Anyway... I don't know that it quite makes things too easy, as Harry still must learn the spell, and also find Voldemort, not to mention the Horcruxes. Also, just because a spell seems to make things too easy doesn't necessarily make it incompatible with the Harry Potter universe, considering that the Avada Kedavra spell just straight up kills your enemy. My spell is no easier than that and is, if anything, more convoluted. Speaking of convoluted, this author's note is starting to get kind of out there, so let me just conclude by saying that I am still open to any volunteers for a beta, as I've had at least 2 people in recent memory suggest that I get one. Additionally, two people have questioned my use of condescend in previous chapters. I intended it to mean "lower one's self" which is a secondary definition. When Ginny used it, she was being somewhat sarcastic.

Chapter 8:

Start of Term

Harry was having, quite understandably, quite a wide range of emotions run through his mind at the moment that he was ejected from the Pensieve.

First off, he was feeling a bit of new respect for Dumbledore. Although he had always known that Dumbledore had been a great wizard, it was rather impressive to see Dumbledore in the act of vanquishing the greatest dark wizard of two generations previous. Not only that, but he felt a sympathy for Dumbledore to an extent he had never done before. Dumbledore had never seemed like the type of person who would need sympathy, but to think of him losing his young wife gave Harry a new perspective on the man.

But another emotion which was registering in Harry's mind was hope. Until now, he had had little idea of how he would be able to defeat Voldemort. Often during the summer, thoughts of when the two rivals had dueled in the graveyard on the night of Voldemort's return had flashed through Harry's mind, and it was clear to him that he would need an alternative to an all-out duel with Voldemort. Of course, this new spell would not cure everything since it would still be necessary to get this spell across without Voldemort disarming him first, but it was still a better plan than trying to Cruciatus him or something, as Harry still wasn't sure that he had much of a handle on that spell.

Still, he would obviously have to find out more about this spell before he was able to know for sure how useful it would be. Harry glanced across the desk to Professor McGonagall, the existence of whom Harry had temporarily forgotten as he wrestled with his own thoughts.

"Did you find what you saw to be of interest?" asked McGonagall as she noticed Harry looking at her. Her manner was still distant, and Harry reflected that although Dumbledore himself seemed to be confident in McGonagall's comptency to take on his role as headmaster, she hadn't quite gotten down the knack of being a mentor.

"Yes, very much so," said Harry, who assumed that McGonagall had been informed of what Harry would find in the pensieve by either Dumbledore's letter or his portrait. "And he encouraged me to ask you to teach me about the spell. Could you do that?"

"Certainly," said McGonagall, smiling slightly. "I don't think we have much time to practice the spell or anything just now, but I can at least answer any questions that you might have about it. I can actually teach you the spell at some point during the school year, which seems to be approaching at rather an alarming rate."

Harry could once again sense that McGonagall was somewhat nervous about beginning her duties as headmistress, and couldn't help but smile slightly as he reflected that this meant that the stern transfiguration professor must have a bit of human in her after all. "Er, yeah, I do have some questions. First off, what exactly does the spell do? From what Professor Dumbledore said, it forced Grindewald to feel love, and therefore made it impossible for him to perform dark magic?"

"More or less," agreed McGonagall. "But it's not quite that simple. You see, the spell can force other emotions upon people than love, depending on the memory the caster is focusing on at the time. For instance, if instead of wanting to stop someone from fighting, a wizard wanted to force another wizard to fight by his side, he could force a particularly angry memory on the other wizard, which could raise the victim's anger against the caster's opponent."

"That sounds pretty complicated," said Harry. "In that case, wouldn't it just be easier to use an Imperius Curse?"

"Oftentimes, yes," admitted McGonagall. "But there are certain advantages to this spell, which I shall explain shortly. But first, I want to explain what happened when Professor Dumbledore cast that particular version of the spell on Grindewald. You see, once Grindewald was forced to recognize the emotion of love, particularly love felt by Professor Dumbledore, he was forced to fully recognize Professor Dumbledore's humanity. It has often been said that people dehumanize their enemies, and I think that in order to want to hurt a person, one must temporarily put that person's humanity out of their mind. This was now impossible for Grindelwald, and that is why it was impossible for him to work up enough hate toward Dumbledore to cast a killing curse on him, or in fact to continue fighting at all."

"So, he lost his ability to do magic?" asked Harry.

"Not quite," answered McGonagall. "He simply lost his ability to do harm to Dumbledore. For instance, if another wizard from his side had attempted to take his place dueling Professor Dumbledore, Grindewald would have been able to cast an Imperius Curse on him to protect Professor Dumbledore. It would still have been nearly impossible for him to cast a Cruciatus curse or killing curse on anyone, though, as the love he was being forced to feel would have made it hard to feel the requisite hate to do that."

Harry nodded slowly, processing this new information. "Why wasn't Grindewald able to block the spell?" asked Harry.

"There are certain spells that are not able to be simply blocked. For instance, Avada Kedavra is unblockable. This spell is also unblockable, so if you are able to get this spell out, with the proper amount of emotional force behind it, your opponent will be unable to counter it. Of course, the difficult part will be to keep alive and holding your wand for long enough to cast the spell. Besides which, the spell requires a good bit of concentration. It is similar in some ways to Legilimancy, which may make it easier for you to cast it on Voldemort than it otherwise would be, considering the mental link you two previously shared. But I believe I have kept you here long enough. We shall discuss the spell further toward the beginning of next term."

Harry processed what McGonagall said, and then, with slight surprise, noted, "Professor, you said Voldemort's name. You didn't used to, did you?"

"No. But I figure I'm the headmaster of Hogwarts now. I can't afford to be afraid of anyone," McGongall smiled, and rose to accompany Harry to the door.

The final two weeks of vacation passed by a bit too fast for Harry's liking. Harry, Hermione, Ginny, and Ron had much more school-related work to do than seemed to be justified during any part of the summer. Aside from preparing plans for the D.A., they had last minute homework assignments to finish up. After it had been determined that Hogwarts would remain open, several of the professors had sent their students letters to notify them of what work they should have done before the school year began.

But still, Harry was somewhat looking forward to the beginning of the school year for a few reasons. First of all, he wanted to actually put his plans into action and get the D.A. back off the ground. Also, Hermione assured them all that the library probably had some information that could help them track down the Horcruxes. Although Harry was not quite so sure that he shared this faith in the library, he was looking forward to being in closer contact with McGonagall, who he was now hoping might be able to help research for the Horcruxes. Also, he was looking forward to finding out who the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher was. He had not ruled out the possibility of the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher having a part in the leadership of the D.A., assuming that the professor in question was competent and willing to help.

On the first day of term, the Burrow was abuzz with activity as usual at summer's end. Once Harry, Hermione, Ginny, and Ron were shaken awake by Mrs. Weasley at 7 in the morning, they only had two more hours to get ready before they needed to get in the Ministry-provided cars to get back to school.

Ron was busy trying to get his Head Boy badge back to normal after discovering only that morning that the twins had modified it during their last visit, much like they had done to Percy's four years before. Keeping the original initials, the twins had charmed the badge to read "Half-Brain." Upon discovering this, Hermione had giggled slightly and offered to fix the badge. Ron had gotten inexplicably defensive and insisted that he could fix his own bloody badge. He opined that it would be emasculating to need his know-it-all girlfriend to perform simple bits of magic for him. Hermione let out a "hrmph" and shot back that he should keep that in mind next time he felt the urge to copy her homework. Meanwhile, Ron dug in his already packed trunk to find his charms book, in which he hoped would be instructions on how to get his badge back to normal.

Trying to keep from laughing at Ron and Hermione's argument, Harry headed down to the kitchen, in which Arthur Weasley was talking with Remus and Moody, both of whom were going to accompany the students to King's Cross, along with Mr. and Mrs. Weasley.

Ginny was in the room too, and during a break in the conversation, she asked Lupin, "Why isn't Tonks coming with us as well?"

"She's beginning her new job today, as a matter of fact," explained Lupin, with a small smile.

"What's that, then?" asked Ginny.

"She's taking over Shacklebolt's old position at the muggle Prime Minister's office," revealed Lupin.

"Why's Shacklebolt leaving?" wondered Harry.

"He's off to fill a more dangerous post," said Lupin, with a slightly guilty look on his face. "Actually, Tonks was angry that she didn't get the post. Tonks thinks that her getting passed over might have something to do with our... er... budding relationship," said Lupin, looking slightly uncomfortable as he trailed off.

"But Shacklebolt's got a kid doesn't he? He's not going to be in too much danger, will he?" asked Harry. At this point, he looked up and noticed Hermione, who still looked a bit flushed from her recent argument with Ron, enter the room.

Lupin looked a bit more uncomfortable at this question, but Moody jumped in to answer. "He's more than qualified to take the job. Everybody's just too superstitious is all. Need to get over themselves. The main problem with the job is that the person has to be away for awhile, and that's part of the reason why they chose someone who wasn't just beginning a romantic relationship. But there's no denying that Shacklebolt's a bit more qualified for the position than Tonks is anyway," said Moody with a wise smile.

"Tonks would disagree with you there," Lupin registered with a small laugh.

"Yes, well, the decision's up to McGonagall in the end, isn't it?" asked Arthur.

"What position are we talking about anyway? Why's Professor McGonagall the one to choose?" asked Hermione curiously.

"Hasn't anybody told you McGonagall's the head of the Order of the Phoenix now that Dumbledore's gone?" asked Moody.

"Er... no," admitted Harry. He had been so wrapped up in his own personal quest to find Voldemort and his Horcruxes, not to mention organizing the D.A., that the topic of the Order of the Phoenix had nearly slipped his mind. Whenever he had thought about it, he had always assumed that the organization had probably fractured upon Dumbledore's death. He was relieved to hear it was still going on.

"Well, there was a vote on it at the first meeting after Dumbledore died," explained Lupin, who seemed to have overcome his embarassment from earlier in the conversation. "And it came out almost unanimous that since Dumbledore trusted her enough to make her his Deputy Headmistress, that should be good enough to transfer leadership of the group as well."

At this point, conversation was cut off as Molly rushed into the room. "Everybody bring your trunks down to the kitchen," she commanded. "And where's Ron?"

"I'll let him know we're getting ready to leave," promised Harry, as he made his way up the stairs.

When Harry entered Ron's room again, Ron was tapping furiously with his wand at his badge while muttering countercharms under his breath. Harry grinned as he said, "We've got to bring our stuff down to the kitchen, honorable half-brain."

"Funny, Harry. Downright hilarious," said Ron disapprovingly as he tossed the badge back into his trunk.

"You know, you look a lot like Hermione when you get angry. You two really do make a good couple," said Harry.

"Why's she got to be such a know-it-all?" asked Ron. "It really is frustrating sometimes."

"Because, Ron, if she weren't such a know-it-all, you'd never get your homework done, and you'd have to walk around wearing badges that say 'half-brain'," explained Ginny, as she walked into Ron's room. It was for Ginny's benefit that they were taking the cars over to King's Cross in the first place, as she was now the only one of the four students who did not have their apparition license. Harry and Ron had taken the test the week after Harry's birthday, and had both passed, even though Ron noticed later that night that he had left two of his toe-nails at the spot from which he had apparated.

"Shouldn't you be getting your trunk downstairs?" asked Ron irritably.

"Hermione offered to levitate it down for me. And _I_, unlike some people, am not so full of myself as to not let people help me. And _by the way _I would just like you to know that Hermione told me about how you said it'd be emasculating for her to help you. It sounds like you still buy into the whole idea that the man is supposed to be the protector of the family?" Ginny asked severely.

Ron raised his arms in a peace-offering manner as he said, "No, I didn't mean it like _that_..." although he was not too convincing.

"Geez, Ron, what were you thinking? We all know I'll let Ginny protect me whenever she wants, if that's what it takes to keep the relationship going," said Harry with a smile.

Ginny stuck her tongue out. "And don't you forget it," she ordered, as she led the way down the stairs as Harry and Ron levitated their trunks behind them.

"All right, all right, everyone in the cars," commanded Mrs. Weasley. "We've only got just enough time to make it to the station."

About two hours later, the group was securely packed onto the Hogwarts train. Lupin and Moody were staying on the train to patrol the corridors, since much like a few months ago, it had been determined that it as no longer wise to trust a handful of teenage prefects with keeping the corridors secure.

However, there was actually very little chance of incident on the way to Hogwarts, as many of the people who were normally known to cause trouble (particularly the Slytherins), were conspicuously absent from the train.

Ron and Hermione still had to head up the Prefect's meeting, even though the prefects were not patrolling the corridors this year, leaving Harry and Ginny to find a compartment.

It would have been exceedingly easy to find an empty compartment, as the train was nowhere near as crowded as it normally was on the ride back to Hogwarts. But Harry got an odd sort of depressed feeling from the empty compartments. It was a testament to how strong Lord Voldemort's reign of intimidation really was to see how few people were on the train. The Slytherins, of course, had not been kept out of Hogwarts due to fear, but presumably Voldemort had instructed his death-eaters not to send their children back to Hogwarts. Indeed, there was little point now in the death-eaters keeping their children in a Ministry-approved track of education, as they were all hoping for the downfall of the Ministry anyway. So it seemed that from now on, all threats to Hogwarts students would come from outside of the school rather than within. Of course, that did not exclude the possibility that Voldemort would try to invade Hogwarts again. But that was what the D.A. was going to prepare for, Harry reminded himself, as he led Ginny down the corridor to what sounded like a cheerfully noisy compartment.

Harry opened the door to find Dean, Seamus, and Lavender talking with none other than Neville and Luna.

"Hey, Harry," greeted Neville excitedly. "I was just telling everybody about the spell I was researching for our first D.A. meeting. Do you have any idea when the meeting will be yet?"

Harry reflected that only a few years ago, neither Neville nor Luna would have had much to do with Dean, Seamus, and Lavender, as Neville and Luna had each been somewhat alienated socially. But due to the realities of war and their positions within the D.A., Luna and Neville, neither of whom had previously seemed to belong, were earning themselves a bit of popularity.

"Well," Harry answered, "we might as well give ourselves a little bit of time to get back into the swing of classes first... How about this Saturday, though?"

"Today's... Monday, right?" asked Seamus. "I kind of lost track at some point during the summer," he explained.

"Yeah, today's Monday," said Harry, grinning.

"All right," said Dean. "Saturday should work then."

Everyone nodded their consent.

The topic of conversation devolved into various bits of small-talk until Ron and Hermione entered the room.

"We looked into a bunch of the compartments on the way here," announced Ron to the room in general, "and I'd be surprised if there's more than 150 of us on this train."

Harry did some quick mental math and then whistled softly to himself. "That's less than half of normal, isn't it?" he asked.

"It sure is," affirmed Hermione. "Usually there's about 400. You know... About ten students per year in Gryffindor, about a dozen in Slytherin per year, about fifteen per year in Ravenclaw, and almost twenty per in Hufflepuff. Almost sixty per year, multiplied by seven. Of course... we've lost the majority of Slytherin, and a good chunk of Hufflepuff as well. Even two of their prefects didn't show up. And only two of Slytherin's prefects _did _show up..."

"Well, the Slytherins are no great loss," opined Dean.

"And I bet Gryffindor's the best represented," said Seamus. "We've got 7 from our year back!"

"It'll make Quidditch a bit pointless though, won't it?" asked Ginny.

"Actually, from the letter that Professor McGonagall sent us to read at the Prefect's meeting, it seems like there might not be any Quidditch at all this year," revealed Ron heavily.

"No Quidditch?" asked Harry. "We'll have to at least organize some pick-up games or something... I can't go a whole year without a decent match..."

Conversation continued in that vein for awhile, and then naturally turned to other topics, as the train made its way toward Hogwarts. Hours later, the students pulled on their robes as the train began to travel in darkness. Just as Ron's growling stomach was becoming audible to the rest of the compartment, the train pulled into Hogsmeade.

As they made their way onto the carriages, Harry glanced warily at the thestrals. He wondered in passing how long he would be the only one of the trio who would be able to see the morbid beasts. Hermione and Ron had still been lucky enough to never witness death first hand. Last year, Harry would have said with confidence that they would at least not see anyone die before they encountered the thestrals again as they left for Christmas break, but Hogwarts no longer seemed unbreachable after the events of the previous year.

Hermione, Ginny, Harry, and Ron all got into the same carriage. "There can't be too many new first years this year, can there?" Ron wondered aloud.

"They'd probably be the ones least likely to show up," admitted Hermione. "Their parents would be the most protective. Plus, they wouldn't really be sacrificing too much, if they end up having to start a year late, at least they aren't leaving off part-way. Of course, I don't know if many people really think the war will be over in a year..."

"Oh, let's hope it is," said Harry earnestly. "I don't know whether I can stand it for more than another year."

"I'm sure we'll have defeated Voldemort by then," responded Ginny. And the odd thing was, she really did sound sure. It was so nice to hear how confident she was that Harry didn't even have the nerve to ask what "we" she was talking about.

When they got up to the Great Hall, the four took their spots at the Gryffindor table. It turned out that Seamus had been right about Gryffindor being fairly well represented, as it seemed like at least three in four of the students who should have returned to the house this year were present.

Once the group was seated, they glanced toward the front of the room as McGonagall led about fifteen first year students into the Great Hall. She placed the sorting hat on its stool and the whole room became silent.

The sorting hat began to sing.

"I know that in previous years my advice you did not heed,

You took the path down which emnity and division lead.

But since I've been proven right, I hope you now shall see,

that the way to victory can come only from unity.

So although now I will divide students into the houses four,

I hope that the houses will not be truly divided anymore.

Into the house of ruthless and mighty Slytherin,

I put students who will do whatever it takes to win.

Into the house of the sly and witty Ravenclaw,

I put those whose intelligence is the subject of much awe.

Into the house of the honorable Helga Hufflepuff,

I place people who will work hard even when it's tough.

And into the house of kind and noble Gryffindor,

I place students who can experience great fear but still endure.

You will need the talents of those students who take after each founder,

Or else this school may be destroyed, and the whole wizarding world flounder.

So if you are wise this year you will all finally take my advice,

And those students that remain will to one another be nice,

To stand unified against a dangerous and shared threat.

For these words of wisdom, you are now all in my debt."

There were only brief spurts of applause from the student body, which could not help but feel as if it had just been reprimanded by the talking hat. Harry supposed that he would do what he could to make sure that Dumbledore's Army was welcoming to any of the remaining Slytherins who wanted to come, as it seemed that those who had supported Voldemort had left the school. Perhaps this year they would be getting on the job training in subjects like muggle-torture, and kissing up to the dark-lord. Harry glanced over to the Slytherin table and noticed that there were only about twenty students there.

Within ten minutes, the first year students had been distributed amongst the houses. Before dinner began, Professor McGonagall stood up. "Before we begin, I would like us to all observe a moment of silence in recognition of our late headmaster, whom we all wish could have been with us this coming year."

For the next minute, the Great Hall was as quiet as Harry had ever heard it, and Harry reflected that this was by far the most somber start of term feast he had ever attended. At the end of the minute, McGonagall cleared her throat and began to talk again. "Our new Defense Agaisnt the Dark Arts Professor should be joining us any moment. I believe he is currently checking the grounds to make sure that no stragglers got locked out of the building due to our new security devices... Ah, here he is now," said McGongall as one of the doors to the Great Hall opened slowly. None other than Kingsley Shacklebolt entered the room and made his way up to the staff table.

"I introduce to you all, Kingsley Shacklebolt. He is an Auror at the Ministry of Magic, and was also a close personal friend of Professor Dumbledore. The Ministry has consented to allow him to fill this post, as they have committed a few Aurors to protect Hogwarts as it is, and they see no harm in allowing one of them to teach. At any rate, I will have more announcements at the end of the feast, but I have kept you from your food for long enough. So, go to it," advised McGonagall as food appeared on the previously empty tables.

As they ate, the four talked about Shacklebolt's appointment as the new professor. "I kind of thought that's what they were talking about when I walked in," revealed Hermione.

"Oh, of course you knew," said Ron with mock-irritation in his voice.

"I see you let Hermione fix your badge," Ginny noted approvingly, glancing at his now repaired Head-boy badge.

Ron rolled his eyes. "Why do you automatically assume I didn't fix it myself?" he asked.

"It makes sense though," said Harry, later on in the conversation. "Moody mentioned that everybody was superstitious. Although something Dumbledore said last year kind of made it sound like Voldemort really _did _curse the Dark Arts position when he was turned down for the job."

"Yes, well, that won't be a problem if you get rid of him this year, will it?" asked Kingsley as he sat down beside Harry.

"Why aren't you up at the staff table?" asked Ron.

"I still don't really feel like a member of the staff," said Shacklebolt with a grin. "Besides, the Headmistress tells me that you probably want to talk to me about this Defense Club you're running?" he asked, as the desserts appeared on the table.

So they discussed the plans for Dumbledore's Army as they ate. Then, after a few closing remarks from McGonagall, the student body got up and made their way toward their respective common rooms.

As he drifted off to sleep in a room with the same four roommates he had started school with, it was almost possible for Harry to forget for a little while how depleted the student body was. But even with this little bit of normality, there was no denying that this would be anything but a normal year.

A/N:... Well... So. There's that chapter then. Sorry about the wait, by the way. This chapter was kind of hard to write, besides which I had to work a good bit last week. Incidentally, I've also got to work a fair amount over the next couple of weeks, and then school starts up. I'm hoping to update consistently about once a week, though, so don't give up on me. And, hopefully the fact that this chapter's fairly long will make up slightly for the time it took to get it up. Oh, and just to justify my numbers for the students in each house: I've seen in different places that Rowling mentioned there were something like 1000 kids at Hogwarts, although all evidence from the books would suggest otherwise. So althouh my numbers are unsupported by Rowling, I figure my numbers make some sense, considering that it seems logical (to me at least) that there would be more students in Hufflepuff (which seems to have few qualifications for admittance) than for Gryffindor. I also think that intelligence is probably more common than bravery of the type that can get someone into Gryffindor, so that's why I have more of them. So... Anyway, let me know what you think about this chapter... Reviews help to inspire me to write faster!


	9. Kingsley Shacklebolt

A/N: All right, this chapter's a bit shorter than the previous ones have been, but I basically do everything I wanted to in this chapter. This is primary to set up future chapters, but I think that it does have some merit in its own right as a part of the plot. Read on to see what you think. By the way, I know that this thing took just about forever to put up. However, I have now settled down somewhat into the rhythm of the new school year, and therefore think that I ought to be able to put out about a chapter per week on this.

Chapter 9

Kingsley Shacklebolt

Harry's first Defense Against the Dark Arts class of the semester was not scheduled until Wednesday afternoon. By the time he made it to that class, however, it seemed like he had been at school for a week and a half rather than a day and a half. He was rather anxious to see exactly what Shacklebolt was made of as a teacher, to see if he would be able to help the trio in their continuing quest to destroy Voldemort.

The day in question started off with a curious event even before Defense Against the Dark Arts. Professor McGonagall, who had made no mention of her meeting with Harry over the summer before then, had walked over to him at breakfast and requested a meeting with him after dinner that night.

By the time class rolled around, it became apparent that Harry wasn't the only one curious about the new professor. As usual when a new professor showed up, Shacklebolt was greeted by the class filing in several minutes early to survey the situation. Upon seeing this welcome, Shacklebolt surveyed the room with a slight smile. "Well, since you all appear to be here early, I believe I might as well start the class awhile. While we will begin working on defensive spells shortly, I feel that I should start off the class with a lecture. But only a short one. Nothing like one of Binns' lectures."

There was a slight laugh from the class from this. If nothing else, this professor had already proven that he had more of a sense of humor than their last two professors of Defense Against the Dark Arts put together. Not that that said much, necessarily.

"Yes, yes, laughter's good," said Shacklebolt, waving a hand dismissively, "but unfortunately, at the moment, we are obligated to focus on more serious issues. The subject of Defense Against the Dark Arts is, under the present circumstances, clearly the most important subject any of you will take this year. Of course, there are important things that can be picked up from your other subjects, some of which can even be applied to combatting dark wizards, but in a time of war against the Dark Arts, it is wise to focus as much as possible on undistilled Defense. With Voldemort out on the prowl, it is neessary to be as much on guard as we can."

Harry registered with slight surprise that Shacklebolt said Voldemort's name, apparently being one of the few wizards who was not frightened to do so. But then again, Harry reckoned that it wasn't too surprising considering that Shacklebolt was a member of the Order of the Phoenix, as were most other wizards whom Harry had heard use the name. Besides which, after hearing McGonagall say the name as well, it seemed possible that, at least among braver witches and wizards, the name was becoming less intimidating. Harry thought that on some levels, this signaled an increasing strength to fight against Voldemort and his Death-Eaters. Even though it still seemed as if circumstances would get worse before they got better, some people were proving to be brave enough to fight back. At any rate, Harry's opinion of Shacklebolt had improved once again.

"Now, in spite of your unfortunately disjointed string of previous Defense Against the Dark Arts Professors, your O.W.L. results reveal that most of this class was up to scratch at least as of the end of 5th year. And in spite of all the other things that Snape apparently was, he was definitely a good actor, and if he was trying to act like a good Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, I assume you all would have learned a good deal from him. So, in order to test your skills at this point, I'm going to teach you a shielding charm, and I want you to get into pairs and practice it."

After a few minutes of practicing the spell, it was easy to pick out the students who had been in Dumbledore's Army in fifth year from those who had not been, as those who had been in the club were doing quite well in performing the spell, which they had already learned. Harry felt a small surge of pride mixed with surprise that so many people had remembered how to do the spell so well. He had sort of assumed that since only Neville and Luna had answered the call that Hermione had put out on the enchanted galleons at the end of last term, that those two students had been the only two who had been consistently thinking about the club and the things that they had learned there. Apparently, this assumption was wrong.

As Kingsley made his rounds, correcting those students who were having a hard time performing some aspect of the spell, he came to Harry, who was paired with Neville (one less pleasant upshot of Ron and Hermione's newfound relationship was that they normally paired with each other when a class-assignment called for partners).

"It seems someone's beaten me to teaching this spell," said Shacklebolt with a smile, as Harry cast a stunning spell to test Neville's shield charm, which had apparently been succesful judging from his general lack of being stunned.

Harry grinned back, "Yeah. I'm a little surpised so many people remembered so well, though," he added in an undertone, not wanting anyone to mistake his sentiment as a lack of faith in his peers.

"Well, it would seem that you're not the only one taking Defense seriously. Speaking of which, have you set a date for your first Dumbledore's Army meeting yet? I was kind of thinking that I could help you advertise the meetings, if you wanted to attract a lot of new students. I'd be able to reach basically all the students below fifth year, and most above. Almost all 6th and 7th years who are still here have opted to take this class, showing that you lot are quite a bit smarter than many adults give you credit for most of the time," revealed Shacklebolt.

"Oh, yeah," said Harry, who had not even thought of having Shacklebolt advertising, but was quite open to the idea. He was eager to teach as many people as possible, and there was now no need to keep the club secret. "I've been telling people Saturday afternoon. About 2 pm. Haven't really figured out where we're going to hold it though."

"Well, depending on how many people you're actually able to get, it might be best to see if the Great Hall could be cleared out. I don't think you'll get most of the students in the school to join. Most are probably nervous enough about simply attending the school and may be unwilling to draw more attention to themselves by joining such a club, in case this would draw unwanted attention from any Death-eaters who may still be in our midst. Not that I believe there are still any death-eaters here, but some of your fellow students might. And, understandably, many will feel that they have enough going on with preparing for classes and whatnot. But the club will naturally draw the bravest and most willing students to it, and we wouldn't want to do much to combat that."

At that point, Kingsley walked off and allowed Harry and Neville to get back to practicing the shield spell. At the end of the class, Kingsley announced, "There will be a voluntary supplemental defense club on Saturday afternoon at 2 pm in the Great Hall. It will be student-led, and you are all encouraged to attend."

At the Gryffindor table during dinner that night, the conversation was dominated by talk about the Defense Against the Dark Arts club, which many people were very eager to get back to attending. Harry was starting to get really animated in the discussion when Professor McGonagall caught his eye from up at the Professors' table. This reminded him that he only had a few more minutes before he ought to be heading off once again to the headmistress' office. It wasn't an event he was necessarily looking forward to, as he was aware that the topic of conversation would probably be the Horcruxes and how to find them.

Harry didn't really like to think about the Horcruxes any more than he had to. It wasn't that he was scared of the prospect of going to find them or anything, it was just frustrating to think about how little he knew about them and to ponder over the possible ways that he might find them. So far the outlook still seemed bleak from his perspective, since it seemed that if Dumbledore had not been able to find any more Horcruxes before his death, doing so would be more of a job than Harry would be able to handle.

However, McGonagall seemed to have some ideas of her own up her sleeve, as Harry was to find out during his meeting with her.

When he entered the office, McGonagall looked rather harassed and tired looking, as she had a tendency to do as of late. Harry was about to express concern about her appearance when she abruptly stated, "Harry, I think I know of a way that you can get to Nagini in order to kill her and deactivate the 3rd Horcrux."

Harry just stared at her blankly, and continued to do so as she revealed her plan, which turned out to be something just as bold and crazy as the plans that Dumbledore had suggested, on the level of telling Hermione and Harry to attempt time-travelling in third year.

Harry was shocked, but he certainly took it a lot better than Ron did, when he relayed the plan to Hermione, Ginny, and Ron later on that night.

"So, wait, you're saying that you want to use my girlfriend as bait to catch a deadly dark-creature?" asked Ron, incredulously.

"First off," said Hermione, trying to hide the slight irritation in her voice, "I think it's sweet that you're trying to protect me, but it's unnecessary. Harry will be able to do this just fine, and I'll get out of it alive. We've all got to take risks. This is war."

Ron looked aggravated. "How do you _know _Harry can do this, though?" asked Ron.

Harry, who was having trouble gaining full confidence in himself to begin with, was not quite sure how he could convince Ron that Hermione would be safe. Ginny attempted to leap to his defense, "Harry's a damn good wizard, Ron. Do you think that _you're _more able to protect Hermione than Harry is?"

Harry watched Ron's face, knowing Ginny's comment would be taken as an insult on his masculinity. Ron's face contorted in anger for a moment, but then he looked at Harry and, seeming to decide that Harry was a great wizard after all, took a deep breath before saying, "Look, I'm not saying that. I'm just saying that this is some _really _complicated magic we're talking about here, and we don't really know that Harry can do it."

"Were you paying attention at _all _when Harry was explaining this?" asked Hermione, who was having a harder and harder time hiding her exasperation. Harry and Ginny, of course, had caught onto it some time ago, but it seemed that now even Ron could tell that she was irritated. "It _is _complex, but Harry will be able to do it because he's a parsel-tongue. Parsel-tongues, besides just being able to _talk _to snakes, can sometimes influence their wills like Voldemort is doing to Nagini. Harry could do the same thing if he practices Occlumency and Legilimancy with Shacklebolt for awhile. As long as he clears his mind and focuses on the snake, he'll be able to suggest actions for it as well as Voldemort can."

"That's just the thing, though," argued Ron. "First of all, I've never heard of Parsel-tongues being able to communicate mentally with snakes before tonight. And even if it _is _true, why would Nagini listen to Harry instead of- of- " Ron sputtered as he obviously struggled to master himself and say Voldemort's name, "You-Know-Who!" sputtered Ron, reddening. He was obviously angry at himself for still being unwilling to say Voldemort's name, but it was also clear that he was going to take his anger out on his friends, as they were the closest available target, and his nerves had apparently been stretched to the breaking point.

"Calm down, Ron" said Hermione carefully, putting a hand on Ron's shoulder. Ron backed away.

Ginny answered the question, "Harry already explained this, too. It's like Dumbledore said last year, it's dangerous to put a part of your soul into another living thing. The reason for this is that the living thing has its own will. Nagini's no ordinary snake. After all Voldemort's put her through, she's become dark in her own right. She herself wants to kill people, especially muggles or muggle-borns. And Voldemort must have had her under tight control lately, especially if Snape had caught on that Dumbledore was after the Horcruxes and told Voldemort. Voldemort is keeping Nagini close to him, and so if Harry suggests to Nagini that she escape and kill a mud-blood, she'll be open to it."

"And no one else see's how this is a problem?" asked Ron loudly. Harry reflected that it was a good thing he had waited to tell his friends all of this until everyone else in the common room had gone off to bed. However, he was beginning to wonder whether those who had already gone to sleep might be awakened if Ron didn't calm down and quiet down a little. Harry hadn't said anything since he had finished disclosing the plan that McGonagall had suggested, of Harry luring Nagini to attack Hermione in the Riddle's graveyard, where Harry would then kill the animal. Hermione would have to go into the graveyard without her wand, and Harry would be able to focus on the image of her doings o to send it to Nagini and communicate to her that she should come and kill the muggle-born. Unfortunately, while doing this, Harry would fall into a trance. McGonagall said that Hermione would have enough time to snap Harry out of the trance before the snake got there, but Ron seemed to be having a hard time believing this.

"No, it won't be a problem!" insisted Hermione. "Even though I personally won't have a wand, Harry will have his, and when I wake him up, he'll be able to kill the snake once it gets there!"

"And there won't be any psychological side-effects to communicating with the dark-snake?" asked Ron. "What if while he's channeling the snake, the Dark Lord gets into _his _mind and makes him kill you?"

"Voldemort hasn't been trying to get into Harry's mind recently, and even if he was, Harry's always been able to fight off Imperius Curses, why wouldn't he be able to fight it off this time? Besides, I don't think that even Voldemort can control someone from that far away without first having been close enough to cast an Imperius Curse" said Hermione.

"I still don't like the idea," responded Ron stubbornly. "Don't do it."

Hermione bristled. "Are you telling me what to do?" she asked.

"Not smart enough to figure that out on your own?" asked Ron shortly.

"You can't tell me what to do! I need to do this," countered Hermione.

"Fine!" said Ron, who then got up and left the room in a huff.

After Ron stormed off, Hermione looked from Ginny to Harry, then toward Ron's retreating form, then she started to look as if she might cry. She ran up the girls' staircase.

"Well, I had certainly hoped _that _would go better," said Harry.

"Ron'll come around," said Ginny reassuringly. "This won't happen right away, right? You'll need to practice first and everything, won't you?"

"Yeah, McGonagall suggested that we might want to wait until as late as early November to do this, to give me some time to work on my Occlumency and Legilimancy," said Harry.

"That sounds like it'll work. It's good that Shacklebolt knows Legilimancy, though. I'm kind of surprised, I thought it was really rare," commented Ginny.

"It is, but you know, aurors tend to be very talented in general," said Harry.

"Tonks isn't an Occlumens," countered Ginny.

"Yeah, but she _can _turn her hair pink, which I think is more useful anyway," said Harry with a grin.

Ginny laughed as well. Harry reflected that it was good that he could still laugh, even in such a difficult situation. He supposed that when he stopped laughing, that's when he would have to worry.

A/N: As always, please review, as it's what keeps me motivated. By the way, I know that before my hiatus, I had a volunteer who was going to be my beta reader. However, I didn't have the nerve to send her this chapter after not being in contact with her since the last chapter a couple of months ago, so this chapter was also unbeta'd (although I tried to proofread it myself a bit). If that person, or any other, is willing to beta for this story, just tell me so in your review (or e-mail me if your e-mail is not in your profile). Thanks.


	10. Halloween Night

A/N: All right, so I decided to give a relatively quick update both to make up for my long hiatus and to avoid doing my homework. Also, good news, I've finally got a beta: Tigoamy was nice enough to beta for me _and _quick enough about it that it hardly even delayed the post. Also, you should _definitely_ go and read her stuff, especially "Real Conversations Really do Happen" which is quite funny.

Chapter 10

Halloween Night

When Harry went up to bed that night, Ron stayed coldly silent although Harry could not imagine that he had yet fallen asleep. Indeed, once Harry settled in, he was able to hear a good amount of tossing and turning from Ron's bed, indicating that he had not yet cooled off enough from the argument to actually go to sleep. Harry wondered briefly whether he should suggest to Ron that they go down to the common room to talk some more and possibly resolve their differences. However, he eventually determined to trust Ginny's theory that Ron would come around in his own time and decided that it was best not to rush the process.

Still, Harry had enough trouble of his own in trying to get to sleep. He was having a bit of a moral dilemma over the idea of willingly putting Hermione into such a dangerous situation as the one that had been proposed. Hermione was, of course, correct in saying that in a time of war, everybody needed to take risks, but it still scared Harry when it was his own best friends taking those risks. But the plan seemed basically fool-proof. Once he lured the snake there, Hermione could break him out of his trance, and then it should be easy enough to kill Nagini. She was only a snake, after all. She couldn't even wield a wand.

As Harry slipped off into the realm of sleep, the ridiculous image of a snake carrying a wand in its mouth flickered across his mind.

Hermione, Harry, and Ginny each seemed to make a conscious effort to give Ron his space over the next couple of days and Ron didn't seem to mind. He spent a lot of time talking to Dean and Seamus and basically ignored Ginny, Hermione, and Harry.

Naturally, Hermione was upset about this action, but she was also the one who got closest to diagnosing its cause, late Thursday night in the common room when Ginny, Harry, and Hermione were discussing Ron's unfortunate new behavioral pattern.

"Well, he sees that he can't prevent us from carrying out this plan, so he seems to be trying to avoid being a part of it. And he knows if he hangs out with us, we'll expect him to help us plan it. Talking to us now would only imply his consent for this whole thing, which he won't do," said Hermione.

"You're probably about right, although Ron probably would phrase it differently," said Ginny, as she giggled slightly at the thought of Ron using a phrase like "imply consent."

"Yes, well, I still wish he'd stop being a prat and talk about it. Maybe if he understood the plan better, he'd see that the risk is very small," said Hermione.

"You're a bit more confident about this than I necessarily am," said Harry hesitantly. He himself was still having doubts, and didn't want Hermione going into the mission overconfident. He couldn't think of anything specifically that could go wrong in McGonagall's plan, but he couldn't help but think that if luring Nagini to her death was as easy as McGonagall seemed to think, then Dumbledore himself would have suggested the plan long ago. But Dumbledore clearly wasn't infallible, as the previous spring had revealed. Harry shook his head to clear it of this internal dialogue as Ginny responded. He was having such internal dialogue a lot lately and frankly found it a bit annoying.

"Look," said Ginny, "We're not saying it's something that you could go out and do tomorrow or anything. You've never even attempted to use the killing curse yet, and you need to figure out how to use Legilimancy to bait Nagini. But this is something you can do. Look at all the amazing stuff you've accomplished so far. Killing a snake is well within your reach." Ginny gave him a quick little comforting hug, and kept one arm around him as she continued to sit beside him. As he put an arm around her as well, Harry realized how much he enjoyed this closeness and was, not for the first time lately, very glad that she had convinced him to get back together with him.

Hermione gave the pair a strange look for a second and then said, "I guess Ron and I are still dating, technically, even though he doesn't talk to me any more."

Ginny responded, "Yes, Hermione, he's just being a prat. That's just something you're going to have to get used to. But he really does care about you, and even he's not dumb enough to make this whole argument even worse by going back to Lavender or something." Ginny paused, and then added, "And if he does, I'll kill him."

"Oh, yeah, _that _would solve everything," said Hermione with a slight laugh. The three laughed together for a bit. Then Hermione continued, "Yeah, well... I should probably be heading to bed. I'll leave you two alone," she said with a small smile.

The two were now the only two left in the common room. Ginny drew Harry a bit closer to her, and they somehow ended up in a nice long kiss. Harry still found himself somewhat surprised at the way that such things turned out. As Ginny drew away, she caught a look of concern on Harry's face.

"What's wrong?" she asked, now wearing a similar look of concern on her face.

"It's just... I really am a bit worried about Ron. I mean, aside from being my best friend, he is a great wizard, and as bad as it might sound to talk strategically about my best friend, we'd really be better off if all of the people on our side would quit arguing and stand together," said Harry.

"It doesn't sound bad to talk about your friends strategically," assured Ginny. "We're in difficult times right now and it seems like everything's about costs and benefits. It doesn't make you a bad friend. What I _am _concerned about is that I just got done kissing you and _you're _thinking about my brother. You er… You aren't gay or anything, are you?" Ginny joked.

"No, of course not," said Harry, after he and Ginny had each had a good laugh at the idea. "But even if I were, I don't think Ron would be my type."

"Really?" asked Ginny. "Who would be then?"

"Well... Dean's pretty good-looking," registered Harry. Ginny giggled.

"We've got similar tastes then, apparently," said Ginny, batting her eyes.

"Yeah," said Harry after chuckling for a bit. "But, seriously... Do you even think Ron will show up for the Defense Club meeting?"

"Of course he will," said Ginny. "He's still on our side, and he's still brave. He might be a Headboy like Percy now, but he's certainly not a turncoat like him."

When Saturday afternoon rolled around, it proved Ginny correct. Although Ron didn't arrive early with Ginny, Hermione, Neville, and Luna to help set up the Great Hall for the first meeting, he did show up with Dean and Seamus. He carefully avoided Ginny, Hermione, and Harry's eyes as the early-arrivals waited for a bit to let any stragglers wander in.

Kingsley, although he was planning on helping out with the club throughout the year, had decided that it would be best for him not to come to all of the meetings, just to make it clear that Harry was in fact the leader of the group. Shacklebolt believed that Harry was sort of the glue that held the group together, and it'd be best to capitalize on that by making him the undisputed leader of the group. Harry, who was anything but power-hungry, agreed to this arrangement only because he reckoned that Shacklebolt was correct in assuming that his fellow students would prefer the group to be led by Harry than by their full-time Defense Against the Dark Arts professor.

A few minutes after 2 o' clock, Harry decided it was pointless to wait any longer. There had actually been a pretty good turn out, with forty people showing up, including almost a dozen seventh years, and a couple of intimidated looking first and second years.

"Er, right," said Harry, who still had trouble keeping from getting a little bit nervy when he was expected to speak in front of large groups. "Dumbledore's Army is back, and now we've even got permission from the school to be running it. Now, before we go any further, shall we vote to figure out whether I'm still going to be the leader of this little group?" asked Harry.

There were a couple of murmurs when Harry said this, but nobody spoke up. Finally, Ginny said, "Harry, nobody suggested that you shouldn't be the leader."

"Yeah, but we can't just assume it. Is there anyone who wants to run against me?" he asked.

There was silence in the Great Hall, which Harry actually found to be somewhat amazing considering that he had never heard the Great Hall this silent with so many people in it.

After waiting for a few moments, Harry continued. "Okay, then. If I'm going to be the leader, then I have to have a few deputies. I've already asked for help from Neville, Luna, Ginny, Hermione a-" he cut himself off. He had forgotten for a second that he and Ron weren't technically on speaking terms. He let the sentence hang unfinished. He glanced at Ron, and saw that there was apparently quite a conflict going on within his mind.

After another moment of hesitation, just as Harry was about to continue, Ron stepped forward. "And me, right? I mean, I've already got a spell picked out that I was going to teach people and everything. Unless you don't need my help?" he asked tentatively.

There was an awkward silence for a second, but Harry broke it as soon as he had gotten over the shock of Ron coming back to their side so suddenly. He wasn't like Percy after all. "Yeah, of course we could still use your help, Ron. And he brought up my next point, incidentally, which is that at this meeting, I think that we should have a couple of our deputies teach everybody a spell. Ron seems ready to go this meeting, is anybody else ready to present?"

Neville volunteered sheepishly.

"All right, good," said Harry. "Two spells should keep us occupied for a bit. Although these are probably going to be fairly advanced spells. How about while Ron and Neville teach the rest of us, Hermione and Luna can teach the first and second years about 'Expelliarmus', and we'll catch you up on the spells that you miss later. Dead useful spell, 'Expelliarmus'," explained Harry, looking at the first and second years, who had apparently managed to bunch themselves together in one corner of the room.

The first meeting of Dumbledore's Army went rather well, with Ron teaching a spell that made would render a wizard's wand slippery and rubber-like, so that it would be difficult to grasp or pick up once the wizard was disarmed. Neville taught a spell which caused the victim to be struck blind and deaf for 30 seconds, which would be quite enough time to lose the upper-hand in a battle. The students were rather quick in making progress with the spells, and although not everyone was perfect at either of them before the meeting disbanded, Harry was impressed that Ginny managed to use each spell on him rather quickly.

At about 4 o' clock, Harry suggested to the group that they ought to wrap up the meeting because the house elves would be putting out the dinner selection rather soon, and they needed to put the Great Hall back into proper order before that could happen. Harry told Neville and Luna they could go awhile as well, even though they each offered to help Ron, Hermione, Harry, and Ginny get the room back in order. Neville and Luna didn't seem at all offended at being shunted from the room, apparently cottoning on that the four of them were about to start talking about matters which it was safer for Luna and Neville not to know about.

"I'm glad you're back on our side, Ron," said Harry, as Neville and Luna left.

Ron had a hard time answering immediately, as Hermione had just run over and given him a huge hug. It was apparent from the ferocity of this hug that it had been something that she had been waiting to do through the whole meeting.

"Apparently she's glad too," said Ron, returning the hug after moving his head so that Hermione's hair wouldn't get stuck in it as soon as he opened his mouth.

"We all are," said Ginny earnestly. "And we knew you'd see sense eventually."

"Now don't go jumping the gun, here," said Ron, jokingly. "I haven't admitted to seeing _anything _yet. And I'm not saying I like what you're planning to do any more than I did when you first told me. But, Harry, I trust you, and if you think this is the best way to destroy the fourth Horcrux then I'm not going to do anything to stop you. But please, Harry, don't go getting my girlfriend killed." He said it with a light enough air, never quite losing his joking tone the whole way through what he was saying. It was as if it was easier to deal with what he was saying if he went out of the way to pretend that they weren't _really _discussing matters of life and death here.

Harry was at a loss, not knowing how to answer this vote of confidence from his best friend, and not sure how to assure him that Hermione would be okay. But he was spared answering by Hermione, who had finally released Ron from the hug after capping it off with a short but passionate kiss and now had a contribution of her own to make to the conversation. "Thanks for coming around on this one, Ron. It means a lot that you respect me enough to respect my decisions on something like this. And I understand that you're worried, but this is something that I really have to do. It's like during first year, when you knew you had to sacrifice yourself in the chess game so that Harry and I could continue. But you turned out to be okay, and so will I."

She said this which such a certain finality that no one could think of anything to say for the next couple of minutes. As they moved the tables and chairs back to their correct positions, the only sounds that could be heard in the room were the soft mutterings of incantations to mobilize the furniture.

Starting the following Tuesday night, Harry began to have weekly meetings with Kingsley Shacklebolt to prepare Harry for his upcoming mission. They started off with reteaching Harry Occlumency, which Harry turned out to be reasonably competent at now that his teacher wasn't actually a death-eater. He wasn't exactly a natural at it, however, so it took a few meetings before Harry got well-practiced enough at Occlumency to begin taking a stab at Legilimancy.

However, their first meeting in October started off with Harry's first Legilimancy lesson.

"Now you won't necessarily have to be a pro at Legilimancy in order to do what we're preparing you for. Because you're a Parsel-tongue, you have a natural ability to influence snakes; we just need to hone that ability a bit. Still, a lot of the basic principals that apply when you're trying to get into another person's mind will also help you when you're trying to get into Nagini's mind. The first step is to concentrate your whole mind on the person whose mind you're trying to lock into. This also piggy-backs on the skills that you learned in Occlumency. You need to clear out your mind of all thoughts other than those related to the person whose mind you are trying to read. Now when you're trying to influence Nagini, it will be different because she won't be there with you, so you won't be able to simply point your wand at her and say an incantation to activate the connection. That's why you'll go into a trance that Hermione will have to wake you from. But for at least this practice, we'll focus on pure Legilimancy. I'll let you practice on me, as I've got nothing to hide from you," finished Shacklebolt with a slight smile.

Harry nodded, and that practice went as smoothly as the ones before it had. Harry reflected on how selfless it was of Shacklebolt to allow Harry to read his mind for the purposes of practicing Legilimancy, and realized how dedicated this man must be to the cause to allow his very mind to be intruded into for it. Harry was gaining more respect for Shacklebolt all the time.

The second Tuesday of October was the one in which Shacklebolt explained to Harry how exactly a Parsel-tongue was supposed to sway a snake's will from far away. Or rather, he explained _approximately _how it was supposed to work, as it was rather hard for anyone who was not a Parsel-tongue to understand exactly what was going on. "But I think that from what I've explained to you, you'll have a general idea of what's going on and will be able to work the rest out on your own when the time comes," explained Shacklebolt apologetically, seemingly frustrated by his own inability to tell Harry all that he might want to know about the upcoming task.

On the third Tuesday of October, Shacklebolt wrapped his cloak around himself once Harry got in the room, and handed Harry a cloak as well. "You'll need this, it's a bit cool outside at the moment, and we're going out to Hagrid's Hut."

"What for?" asked Harry. He was glad at the excuse to see Hagrid, as he hadn't been to visit him in a few weeks. Professor McGonagall had appointed Hagrid as the Head of Gryffindor House at the beginning of that year, and between preparing for his Care of Magical Creatures classes and fulfilling his Head duties, he had not had much time for visitors. But Harry was suspicious that Shacklebolt wasn't proposing to interrupt their weekly meetings simply to visit the half-giant grounds-keeper.

Shacklebolt gazed gravely at Harry. "Hagrid's gathered some animals of various sizes that are expendable. Today, Harry, I need to teach you the Killing Curse, so that you can use it on Nagini once you lure her to the Riddles' grave."

Harry swallowed heavily. Somehow, he sensed that this evening would be somewhat of a turning point in his life. He knew somehow that learning the Killing Curse would change him ever so slightly. He wondered briefly whether Dumbledore would have consented to him learning such a dark spell.

The pair trudged in silence down to Hagrid's cabin, and after Hagrid had given them an unusually terse greeting, he showed them to the small pent where there were a couple of caged rats, a creature that looked a bit like an overgrown groundhog, and a really ugly thing that looked like a two foot-long cock-roach. Harry judged quickly that Shacklebolt had been correct in saying that no one would actually miss these creatures once they were dead, but he still felt a slight pang of guilt that he would have to kill them. They were after all, ugly as they were, still technically completely innocent creatures.

Shacklebolt broke him out of his train of thought by speaking up. He was still speaking in a subdued voice, and it was absolutely clear that he took no pleasure in teaching one of his students the Killing Curse. Harry reflected momentarily on how much more eager a Death-Eater would be to teach someone Harry's age such a spell.

"Obviously, everyone knows the incantation for this spell, but the point is putting hate behind the spell. It's easier to kill smaller animals than bigger ones, but in some ways, it will be harder for you to kill these animals than it would be for you to kill a Death-Eater, or Nagini for that matter. That's because if you were actually facing an enemy of yours, such as Bellatrix Lestrange or Severus Snape, you'd have a pool of personal animosity for that person to take your hate from. With these animals, you'll have to go through the effort of concentrating on your hate for Voldemort or someone else in order to put the force behind the spell. Do you think you can do that?"

Harry agreed that he probably could, and Shacklebolt instructed him to kill the rat first. He attempted to do so. The rat didn't so much as squeak to acknowledge the spell. As a matter of fact, no light escaped from Harry's wand.  
"Didn't quite do it that time," said Shacklebolt. Harry reckoned he knew why. It was hard for him to concentrate on his hate for Voldemort because he was thinking about how simply be performing this spell he would be becoming ever so slightly more like him.

Harry tried again, trying to clear his mind. Once again he failed to cast the spell. He failed a third time.

Shacklebolt smiled slightly. "Well. I guess I'm sort of relieved to find that you're not a natural at Unforgivable Curses. But you can do this. Just use your Occlumency skills to clear your mind of whatever's distracting you, and then focus on your hate for Voldemort."

Harry did as instructed, and finally, this time, when he uttered "Avada Kedavra," a green light emanated from his wand, and the rat twitched and fell dead. Harry shuddered slightly, but steeled himself. He had crossed a threshold. He was able to kill the next three animals with no problem. Shacklebolt muttered a quick spell to vanish the bodies, and then gestured toward the castle. The two walked solemnly in silence back up to the castle.

Once they got back to Shacklebolt's office, the Professor looked at Harry meaningfully. "I believe you've learned everything that you need to in order to carry out the plan. Professor McGonagall and I believe it to be wisest to carry out this plan on a night when most wizards will be thinking of other things than monitoring Harry Potter's actions, so we chose a night of celebration for wizards. You shall carry out the plan on Halloween night."

Hours later, once the common room had cleared out again, Harry relayed to Ron, Hermione, and Ginny that the plan was almost ready to be put into action. When Harry announced that the night to carry it out would be October 31st, Hermione bit her lip silently, Ginny gave a confident little nod, and Ron frowned. But there was no argument this time.

There were only eight days between the time that the date for the expedition had been decided and the night when it would be carried out. These days passed by quickly for Harry as he and his three best friends all grew a bit quieter. There was a palpable nervousness about them, and it just so happened that their nerves about the task at hand coincided with a rash of bad news from outside the castle.

There had been a few particularly nasty mass muggle killings lately, and there was speculation in the press that the Death-Eaters might be working on an even bigger event for Halloween night. When he read an article suggesting this one morning, Harry gritted his teeth and after looking around him muttered quietly to Ron, Hermione, and Ginny, "Well, we might not be able to stop that, but we should at least be able to rob Voldemort of his favorite pet that night."

And suddenly, the night was upon them. Harry and Hermione had decided to leave at 6:00 that evening, so they could apparate to the graveyard while it was still light, just to get their bearings before they carried out their plan. Ginny and Ron each kissed their respective romantic interest good-bye in the entrance hall. Then Ginny hugged Hermione and said that she knew everything would be okay. Ron shook Harry's hand and said, in a voice less confident than it could have been, "I know you can do this, mate." Then he paused, and smiled, saying, "Kill that damn snake."

"I will, Ron, I will," said Harry.

Then, Hermione and Harry walked down across the grounds by themselves, making their way off the grounds to wear they could apparate. Hermione was going to have to ride side-along, as she had herself never been to the graveyard in question and thus could not properly envision it to apparate, and also didn't have her wand.

"You look nervous," Harry commented as they walked.

"No," Hermione lied. "I'm not."

"Oh come on, Hermione," said Harry, slightly annoyed. "I've known you for more than six years; I can tell you're nervous. You've got the same look on your face as you always do whenever you think you haven't properly studied for an exam. Of course you always end up acing it anyway, so maybe it's actually a _good _omen that you're making that face."

"Really, it's nothing... It's just I kind of feel helpless without my wand. I wish we could have just had me hide it in my robes or something, that way you still would have been able to show Nagini the picture of me helpless in a graveyard, but I'd still have the wand. But I guess your eyes might automatically wander to wear the wand was hidden or something and it might give it away... But I _know _I shouldn't be worried. All I've got to do is wake you up. And I don't need a wand to do that. I can wake you up just as easy by poking you with a finger as I could by poking you with a wand, right?" she asked with a small smile.

"I think so," said Harry smiling back. "Anyway, we can apparate now," said Harry as they crossed the gate which signified that they were off the grounds. Harry thought for a moment that it was somewhat odd that there were no professors or anything patrolling the area to make sure no students wandered off the grounds, but Harry reckoned that McGonagall had instructed that no professors should interfere with Hermione and Harry that night.

They arrived at the graveyard as dusk was coming, and they looked around. "Well... I suppose I might as well start all this now rather than later," Harry reasoned, after they had walked around the graveyard for a few moments. "It'll take the snake awhile to get here anyway, and it's already starting to get dark."

"Okay," said Hermione, sounding nervous again. This was reasonable, Harry supposed. Even if she had complete confidence in him, he was getting ready to slip into an unconscious daze and leave her as the only conscious being in a darkening graveyard. That was quite creepy in its own right.

Harry sat down with his back against a grave-stone, and worked hard to concentrate simultaneously on Nagini and the image that he was trying to send her, that of Hermione, who was currently sitting at a grave-stone opposite, feigning sleep so that Nagini would consider her even more helpless. He thought about the snake and Hermione's helpless-looking form, and focused on the command "Kill the Mud-blood." He repeated the command in his mind several times, like an incantation. He felt himself turning drowsy, and suddenly he somehow knew he was inside Nagini's mind.

This, according to what Shacklebolt had told him, was exactly what was supposed to happen. Still, the sensation of switching minds still caught Harry a bit off guard and it took him a moment before he was able to call the image of Hermione's helpless form sitting sprawled against a grave-stone back to his mind. And again he rehearsed the command "Kill the Mudblood. Kill the Mudblood. Kill the Mudblood.

Through the snake's eyes, he was able to see the room around him. To his surprise, he recognized the room that the snake was in. It was the same room he had seen the snake in during a dream 3 years earlier, when Voldemort had killed the gardener in his parent's old house. That must be where the snake was now. This meant that it was right near the graveyard which contained the bones of the Riddles as well as Hermione and Harry's unconscious form. The snake had, for some reason, been much closer than they had assumed.

Voldemort was no where to be seen, which McGonagall had expected to be the case. They assumed that Voldemort would not keep any of his Horcruxes with him, because he'd want to keep the different bits of his soul apart from each other to make it more difficult to destroy at once. But even if he had been present, McGonagall had assured Harry that the snake was powerful enough a dark creature in its own right by now that it would be able to sneak out, especially since Voldemort obviously expected nothing but unswerving loyalty from his creature, and thus would not be watching too closely.

But Harry was able to tell right away that the snake was receptive to his idea of attacking Hermione. And indeed, almost immediately, the snake began to move toward the door of the room it was occupying.

However, Harry didn't get to see any more of the house, because Hermione chose that moment to shake his body in the graveyard back to consciousness.

Her face was concerned. "I hope I gave you enough time to do what you needed to," she said apologetically, "but I got nervous."

"Yeah," said Harry, "its coming. Actually, it's probably good you woke me up so soon, because the snake's actually in that house up there," said Harry, gesturing vaguely toward the Riddles' house.

Hermione gave a slight gasp, but then recovered herself. "Well, that's good, then" she said, "that means we'll be able to go back really soon."

"Yeah," said Harry. And then they waited. Even though the house was relatively close, it still took 5 minutes before they saw the form of the snake on the ground creeping toward them in the distance. Harry tensed up, knowing that the moment had come. He began to think about his hate for Voldemort and was tracking the progress of the snake, trying to decide how close was close enough for him to aim a spell at the snake.

Harry reflected for a second about how easy this had turned out to be. He had been successful in calling for the snake to come to him, Hermione had woken him up without a hitch and in plenty of time, and they would get back to Hogwarts before anyone noticed they had ever been gone.

And then he heard voices. Hermione apparently heard them too, because she gasped in fright. Harry looked up from the snake's position on the ground, and saw that there were three hooded figures following it, which meant that now Harry was facing three wizards and a snake without any prospect of help from his wandless friend. Perhaps this wouldn't be so easy after all.

A/N: All right, I won't deny it, the ending to this chapter was probably somewhat predictable. But don't fault me too much for that, if you can help it, because I think there's a couple of better surprises coming up… I'm not saying they're _impossible _to predict, but I like them a bit more anyway. Now, of course, the customary begging for reviews: Yes, I do realize that I've already had quite a lot of reviews and everything, but I really am a bit curious to see whether I'm keeping people's interest, so it'd be helpful if you'd review and tell me what you're liking and disliking about the story so far. And of course, each review will make me that much more willing to be distracted from my homework for a bit longer to write some more and update quicker! Thanks in advance. : )


	11. Kreacher

A/N: Okay, I realize this is a bit odd to do, but this chapter does not follow Harry's POV for the whole time, b/c there are some things that I needed to show which he wasn't present for. Or at least, things that I wanted to show. To add to the dramatic effect or something. Anyway... Hope you can tolerate the slightly abnormal style for this chapter; hopefully it'll be worth it. Once again, thanks to Tigoamy for betaing, and thanks to everyone for reading. Especially those who are also reviewing, at least once in awhile, to let me know whether I've still got your interest. And to those of you who thought the last chapter end was a cliff-hanger, I'd just like to let you know things are going to get more interesting before they get less so. And the end of this chapter isn't exactly properly resolved either.

Chapter 11

Kreacher

Soon after Hermione and Harry left the school, the Halloween feast began. Ron and Ginny skipped it.

"I just don't think I'd be able to enjoy it properly knowing that Hermione and Harry were out there in danger at this very moment," explained Ginny.

"What do you mean?" asked Ron skeptically. "You're the one who's been so confident this whole time that Harry can do all this."

"Well... I'm confident because I know he's the best man for the job. And I'm confident because that's what he needs from me. But I'm also not stupid. I know that anyone who's going to mess with Voldemort has a good chance of getting hurt," admitted Ginny, as she and Ron ascended the steps to an empty common-room.

They started a game of Wizard's Chess, just to keep themselves distracted from worrying too much about Harry and Hermione.

"I just wish I were out there with them," mused Ron, once the game had progressed for a few minutes.

"Yeah, me too," agreed Ginny. "But they're doing what they need to do, and they'll be back soon. I'll just be so relieved when this whole war's over and we can live like normal."

"Well, that's just the thing, isn't it? Hermione and Harry, they just aren't normal, are they?" asked Ron.

"If only we dated normal people, life would be a whole lot easier, wouldn't it?" Ginny joked.

And as if to answer her question, a loud crack filled the common room as the ugliest house-elf either of the red-headed teenagers had ever seen entered the room.

"Kreacher!" gasped Ginny. "What are you doing here?"

"Kreacher is on urgent business from his master," said Kreacher in a way that made it clear that he himself did not see the matter as urgent at all.

"Harry sent you?" asked Ron incredulously. "Why would he send you?"

"He got into trouble. His plan didn't work. Even though he got where he intended to go, some death-eaters found him and now he needs your help," said Kreacher slowly.

"That doesn't make any sense," said Ron. "How would you know what was going on with Harry? You're supposed to be in the kitchens!"

"He summoned Kreacher and Kreacher went to him, just like a good house-elf," said Kreacher. Then, apparently forgetting Ron and Ginny were still present, he continued, saying, "And if that filthy half-blood was a good master then Kreacher would not have to deliver messages to muggle-loving teenagers."

"Do you think he's telling the truth?" asked Ron.

"It doesn't matter!" said Ginny urgently, already getting up from her chair. "We've got to assume that he is. If he's lying and Harry's really not in trouble, then there will be no harm in going to make sure that that's the case. Besides, how would Kreacher even _know _what Harry was doing if Harry didn't summon him?" she asked.

Ron looked to be considering this for a moment, but looking at Ginny's panicked expression robbed him of his will to argue with her, and he said, "Okay, fine, let's go get McGonagall and she can alert the Order and we can have a full-scale assault in no time."

"We don't have time for that!" Ginny said, and started over to the portrait-hole. "We'll send Kreacher to get McGonagall and we'll head down awhile. If he's in trouble now, we need to help him now!"

"Fine," said Ron. "Kreacher, go get McGonagall and tell her we need to go to the place where Harry's at." He had consciously declined to actually tell Kreacher where Harry was, just in case Kreacher was somehow working on someone else's orders and would tell them where Harry was if he knew.

"Kreacher does not have to follow any instructions given from anyone but his master," explained Kreacher in a slow, patient voice.

"Fine, then we'll just have to go without reinforcements!" said Ginny with a frightened but determined look on her face.

"We need reinforcements! We don't know what kind of odds we'll be facing once we get there. We want to make sure we have enough people to help," Ron reasoned.

"To help what, retrieve the bodies?" asked Ginny, already running through the corridors on the way to the Entrance Hall. Ron was running to keep up. If she was going to go, he couldn't let her go alone. "If we don't go now, the battle will already be decided by the time we get there. Besides, if Harry sent Kreacher to us, he probably sent Dobby to McGonagall."

"Maybe," said Ron, hopefully. But he didn't have a very good feeling about any of this. He couldn't help wondering whether this might be a trap or whether the odds might be impossible even with Ginny and Ron present. But he kept running because the chess-strategist part of him told him that if this was a trap then it meant the Death-eaters knew what Harry was doing and were after him as well.  
And considering the prophecy, it seemed that Harry was much like the King in a game of chess. If Harry was killed, Ron reflected, it wouldn't much matter in the long run, whether Ron and Ginny were killed in action. Because if Harry was killed, their side had as good as lost. And once that happened, it wouldn't be long before Ginny and Ron were dead anyway. So Ron followed Ginny across the grounds as she made her way toward the gate.

They were almost at the gate now, and once they were on the other side they would be able to Apparate. Ginny would have to ride side-along though, as she had not yet learned how to Apparate herself. So all Ron would have to do would be to concentrate on the cemetery where they were heading-

"Wait!" said Ron, as Ginny crossed the threshold of the gate. Ginny did not stop, but looked over her shoulder to indicate that she was listening. "I can't apparate there; I've never seen it to be able to concentrate on the place."

"Shit!" said Ginny, stopping about 20 yards beyond from the gate. Ron was having a hard time believing that he hadn't thought of this before running from the castle. He wished Hermione had been there. She would have caught that mistake in a second.

Ron stopped too, he being only ten yards beyond the gate. He clutched a stitch in his side and looked back up toward the castle. "I guess we'll have to get McGonagall to come with us after all, then."

Ginny nodded, and they turned back toward the castle, only to find the gate blocked by three of their least favorite people on the planet.

Draco Malfoy, along with Crabbe and Goyle, each had their wands trained on Ginny and Ron. Malfoy was wearing a disgustingly triumphant expression. Judging from Malfoy's face, one might have expected that Christmas had come early and had happened to coincide with Voldemort's inauguration as king of the world.

Malfoy was clearly relishing the situation as he spoke to Ron in his characteristic drawl. "We shall not be requiring your services, Weasel. You are free to go, if you are wise enough to know when you're beaten in a battle."

"I'd rather die fighting than surrender to you Malfoy," said Ron, as he quickly reached for his wand in his pocket. Ginny reached for hers as well, but they were both so slow. Crabbe and Goyle each looked menacingly as if promising that they could fulfill Ron's death wish, if that's how he wanted it.

"Aim to disable, not to kill," Malfoy commanded, before shooting a spell at Ginny. Thus, before either Ron or Ginny had fully drawn their wands, Malfoy had used Petrificus Totalus on Ginny and Crabbe and Goyle had both aimed stunning curses at Ron.

Fortunately for Ron, being Crabbe and Goyle they had awful aim and each of their spells decidedly missed the mark, giving Ron enough time to draw his wand. Unfortunately for Ron, he was now facing three fully armed wizards, and even if two of these wizards _were _Crabbe and Goyle, such odds would be rather hard to pull off under the best of conditions. Of course these were _not _the best of conditions given that Ron had just jogged for almost a mile to get down to the gate in the first place, while Crabbe, Goyle, and Malfoy each seemed to be quite well-rested.

Still panting, Ron pointed his wand at Malfoy and performed the disarming spell. He was successful, but each Crabbe and Goyle had aimed spells at him again during the meantime, and it seemed that one of them had found their mark because Ron had been petrified.

He cursed himself mentally, wondering why he hadn't gone to get McGonagall before running all the way down to the gate. If he had, she probably would have brought several other faculty members with her and the odds would have been substantially against Malfoy and his cronies. As it was, Ron and Ginny were petrified and Harry was still in trouble, assuming that Kreacher had been telling the truth in the first place.

"All right, let's go," drawled Malfoy calmly, picking up his wand and grabbing onto Ginny, apparently so that he could take her side-along to wherever he was apparating.

"Can't we kill Weasley first?" asked Goyle hopefully, striding over toward Ron to make sure aim wasn't a factor and pointing his wand between Ron's eyes.

"No," said Malfoy in an oddly urgent voice. But then he recovered himself and his voice returned to its characteristic drawl. "The Dark Lord did not tell us to kill the King Weasel and therefore we shall not. Perhaps our Lord has plans for him. If he can be coaxed to join our side, then his position near Potter could be very helpful. Besides, someone has to be here to tell Potter what happened to his precious girlfriend so that he can start hatching a suicidal plan to come rescue her."

Goyle grumbled restlessly, but it was clear that Malfoy was still quite in control of Crabbe and Goyle.

"Can't we at least practice the Cruciatus Curse on him for a bit?" asked Crabbe hopefully.

"No," answered Malfoy firmly. "We've got to get out of here before anyone comes looking for him."

With that, a very disappointed Crabbe and Goyle disapparated along with a very smug and satisfied looking Malfoy.

Ron had never paused in his mental tirade of self-damnation since he had lost the battle, but he had been paying enough attention to the conversation to understand that Malfoy seemed to think there was a chance that Harry was coming back. That meant one of three things. Either Kreacher had been sent by Malfoy just to get Ginny and Ron to come down to the gate, or Kreacher had been acting on Harry's orders and Malfoy just happened to be present to take advantage of the situation, or Malfoy knew that Harry was in trouble, but still thought there was a chance Harry could get out of it.

Ron hoped desperately that whatever was the case, Harry would return soon. It was becoming more and more apparent to Ron that everybody was right when they said Harry was a better wizard than him. Yes, Ron had been outnumbered, yes he had been out of breath, and no he had not had his wand drawn. But it seemed to him as if somehow Harry would have been able to get himself out of such a difficult situation.

Elsewhere in the country, Harry was trying to prove just that.

When he had seen the three death-eaters tailing the snake, he had almost immediately started calculating his odds and weighing his options. He was certainly cursing the fact that Hermione didn't have her wand on her. If she had, it would have been two on three death-eaters and a snake. And in his experience, it seemed as if each he and Hermione were worth about two death-eaters in a battle.

But Harry could not necessarily take on three Death-Eaters by himself. And Harry definitely could not think of a way that he could protect Hermione from all 3 death-eaters at once, let alone the snake. So there was nothing for it but to disapparate.

"Come on Hermione," said Harry quickly, while the death-eaters were still too far away to use their wands. "Grab on so we can disapparate."

"Are you sure?" asked Hermione, although Harry could tell she was relieved. "We're going to leave Nagini alive?"

"Killing the snake isn't worth getting myself captured and being forced to battle with Voldemort while he's still immortal. And it sure as hell isn't worth letting you get killed for. But if we disapparate now, we might still be able to get your wand back and come back here with reinforcements before Nagini gets back inside."

Hermione nodded. "Okay, that sounds good."

Harry glanced at the Death-eaters, who had now passed the snake. They weren't quite close enough to aim their wands with accuracy yet, but they were close.

Hermione grabbed onto Harry and Harry concentrated on the gate in front of Hogwarts. He attempted to apparate, but it didn't work. He tried again, and then swore. "What's going on?" he asked Hermione.

"Maybe somebody put up an anti-apparition charm," said Hermione nervously.

"Damn," said Harry. "What are we going to do?"

Hermione looked at Harry desperately as if she was thinking that _he _was the one who was supposed to have these kinds of answers.

"Fine," Harry responded to her unstated thought, "You're going to have to take cover. Don't go too far, 'cause you're not going to make it far enough on foot to get out of the Death-Eaters grips anyway, and if you get outside of the anti-apparition charm, then somebody could apparate right in front of you and kill you. If you stay close, then they'll have to get by me first. Hide behind a grave-stone to guard yourself from any rebounding spells, and make sure you keep away from Nagini."

Hermione nodded silently, apparently too terrified to talk. Of course, Harry couldn't blame her. He'd be scared too if he were wandless on a battle-ground. But as it was, he had a wand, and instead of terror, he was feeling a rush of adrenaline. If he was going to go down, he was going to go down fighting.

As Hermione ducked behind a gravestone, Harry glanced back up at the Death-eaters, and noticed that one had moved out in front of the others, and all had stopped just a little bit further away than Harry reckoned he could accurately cast a spell at them from.

The Death-eater removed his hood to speak to Harry, as another Death-Eater placed a spell on Nagini to immobilize her and prevent her from moving any closer. Well, at least that would keep the snake from attacking Hermione.

When he saw the now hoodless death-eater, he was somewhat stunned. It was Severus Snape.

He shouted to Harry. "You'll find yourself unable to disapparate, as I trust you have already discovered. However, we would be willing to make a deal with you. If you surrender now, we promise to kill your mudblood friend quickly and painlessly."

The other death-eaters laughed.

But Harry could tell it was nervous laughter. It must be. The death-eaters weren't sure that they could take him on, even though he was outnumbered three to one. So they were stalling. That probably meant they had reinforcements coming, reckoned Harry. They certainly would have had time to send for them if they had time to put up an anti-apparition charm. But why would Snape be afraid to attack Harry? He was usually so cocky.

But then again, maybe Snape wasn't certain that there weren't other Order of the Phoenix members present, or maybe he was frightened that if there was a full-scale battle, Nagini might get injured. And it certainly wouldn't do for a death-eater to wound Voldemort's favorite pet, even if they weren't aware that she was actually a Horcrux.

Whatever the reason for Snape's caution, Harry knew he would have to milk it for all it was worth, despite the fact that time was probably an important factor.

Harry responded in a shout. "I'll come quietly if you let me give Hermione my wand and give her safe passage out."

Snape actually seemed to be considering this. He turned his back on Harry, only for a moment, to confer with the other death-eaters. It was the opportunity Harry had been waiting for.

Harry took a few running steps forward, so that he could get a shot off with confidence, and petrified the death-eater to Snape's left.

Snape raised his wand, but instead of cursing Harry, he levitated Nagini's body and began moving it out of the field of battle, removing it as a target.

Meanwhile, the other still mobile death-eater aimed a disarming spell at Harry. Harry successfully deflected the spell, and it rebounded on the Death-eater, who Harry immediately petrified.

It was now just Harry and Snape, who had just gotten done moving the snake to a safe distance.

Remembering Snape's taunts during the last time they had done battle, Harry focused on clearing his mind so that Snape would not know what spell Harry was about to perform and would be unable to counter it.

Snape cast a spell first, but Harry had been expecting him to cast one, and so he had time to duck.

Although Harry was successfully practicing Occlumency, he still had enough bottled up rage against Snape to know that the spell he cast would have to be a particularly nasty one. And he was aware that he would probably only get one shot. But he wasn't quite sure that he could bring himself to practice Avada Kedavra on a person, even a person as foul as Snape.

But he certainly _could _treat him to a round of Sectumsempra, given that Snape had _created _that spell and therefore rather deserved to have it used against him, at least by Harry's logic.

So before Snape had time to cast another spell, Harry waved his wand while thinking "_Sectumsempra_!" A rather satisfying gash began to make itself apparent on Snape's chest.

Snape fell to the ground.

"The Dark Lord will get you for this!" yelled Snape, in excruciating pain.

But Harry didn't have time to deal with Snape just now. He did have enough time to grab the wand which Snape had dropped in pain. He tossed the wand in Hermione's general direction and instructed her to grab it.

Hermione emerged from her hiding place behind a grave and ran toward the wand.

Harry started off to the place where the still immobile form of Nagini had been relocated. But as he looked in that direction, he noticed nearly a dozen more hooded figures in the distance. And whether Hermione had a wand or not, Harry did not much relish 6 to 1 odds, especially if Harry were to kill the snake first and take that bargaining chip out of the question, and especially now that Harry was tired from the battle he had just won and Hermione was using someone else's wand.

"We're going to have to kill the snake and then run to get out of the anti-apparition field," said Harry decisively. "You start now; I'll deal with the damn snake!"

"No, I'm not leaving without you," replied Hermione.

"Fine, then just wait a second," Harry said. He took a few more running steps toward the snake, aimed at it, and yelled "Avada Kedavra!"

"How can I tell whether it's still alive? It was already frozen immobile!" yelled Harry.

"Finite Incantatem!" yelled Hermione, casting a spell at the snake from a position beside Harry, which she had taken up apparently having misinterpreted his instructions to "wait." "There," she explained. "That should have ended the petrification charm, and it'd be moving now if it weren't dead."

The snake didn't move, but Harry pointed his wand toward it and recast the Avada Curse from point-blank range just to be sure, watching with slight satisfaction as the green light from the spell made contact with the foul creature's skin.

"All right, now let's go!" yelled Harry, and they ran in the opposite direction from the dozen hooded figures still in the distance, passing a Snape who was still writhing in pain on the ground. Harry reflected viciously that it was somewhat of a pity that it was almost certain that one of those dozen death-eaters would be able to help Snape to recover his health.

They ran across the graveyard. "How far do you reckon this charm covers?" asked Harry once they had entered a sparse forest on the outskirts of the graveyard.

"I don't think it could hurt to try now, do you?" asked Hermione.

"Well, I wouldn't suggest that you try apparating using Snape's wand, but if you ride side-along, we can try," suggested Harry.

So Hermione grabbed onto him again and Harry attempted to Apparate again. This time, it worked, and Hermione and Harry apparated right in front of the gate. The first sight that greeted their eyes was a petrified Ron.

After quickly releasing Ron from the effects of the spell, Hermione and Harry listened in terror as Ron recounted the story of what had happened.

"But I didn't call for Kreacher!" said Harry, who was at this point too tired from the stresses of the previous battle even to fully comprehend what Ron was saying.

Without thinking about what they were doing, the three teens began to trudge back up toward the castle.

"Then why would he have come?" asked Ron.

"I don't know? Shall we ask him? Maybe he knows something about where Malfoy took Ginny at least," said Harry, grasping at any shred of hope that this might be something that he could still fix.

"Well, it can't hurt anything, can it?" asked Hermione dispiritedly.

"Okay, I'll call him now, and we can take him with us up to McGonagall's office. We're not going into this one without reinforcements," said Harry, who was not planning to let impossible odds make him run from a battle again any time soon. "Kreacher, come here!" shouted Harry angrily as the trio passed near Hagrid's cabin.

Kreacher appeared with a pop at Harry's side. His ugly face was locked into an expression which could be described as nothing other than a smirk. "Master called Kreacher?" he asked with a mock innocence in his voice.

"Who the hell told you to lure Ginny and Ron into danger?" growled Harry.

"None other than the pure-blood Draco Malfoy," bragged Kreacher. Well. That wasn't much of a surprise.

"Why were you obeying orders from Malfoy?" asked Harry furiously.

"Master never told Kreacher _not _to obey the noble Master Malfoy. Kreacher thought Master would be happy to lend his elf to a wizard so superior to himself. After all, Master told Kreacher to follow Malfoy just last year. And you never really told Kreacher to stop. So Kreacher assumed that you wanted Kreacher to keep checking up on Malfoy. And last time Kreacher checked up on Draco, kind Master Malfoy had a task for him. He wanted Kreacher to use his position in the kitchens to slip a potion into Ginny Weasley's drink at dinner tonight. Malfoy told Kreacher that the potion would make Ginny come to him, and then he could deliver her to the Dark Lord. But then Draco saw Master and the Mudblood pass through the gate and knew that there would be another way to get the girl to come to the gates. So Kreacher did his part to help. Mistress would be so proud if she could see Kreacher now!" finished Kreacher. It was apparent that to Kreacher, this treachery was an even more glorious moment than the one that had ended up killing Sirius.

"Can I kill the damn bastard-elf _now _Hermione?" Ron questioned savagely.

"How would that help anything, Ron?" asked Hermione sadly.

The trio entered the castle, still being tailed by Kreacher, who had not become disheartened at all at the proposition of being killed by Ron. It seemed that Kreacher had just had the type of pinnacle accomplishment after which one could die with happiness.

Left to his own devices, Harry probably _would_ have killed the elf, out of sheer rage at what he had done as well as for his complete lack of shame at his actions. But both for Hermione's sake and because he knew it wouldn't actually help anything anyway, he figured he could let the elf live, at least until he had calmed down enough to determine whether his actions were coming from a thirst for justice or simple rage. At any rate, there was one practical thing that had to be done, so Harry said, "Kreacher, from this point forward, you are to obey orders from no one but me. Furthermore, you are not to willingly perform any action that would in any way help Voldemort, or hurt me, my friends, or any other member of the Order of the Phoenix. The only actions which you may take without an explicit order from me are breathing, eating, and other bodily functions to keep yourself alive." There, thought Harry, that should pretty well cover it.

They made the rest of their way up to the entrance to the headmaster's office without speaking, being at a loss for words which could properly express their anger, dismay, and panic. Meanwhile, Kreacher combated the silence by keeping up a running commentary of mutters which described how the half-blood, the muggle-lover, and the mud-blood had all been thwarted by the great pure-blood Draco Malfoy.

"Tartan Plaids," Harry announced to the gargoyle, and was relieved that at least the password hadn't changed.

The three teens and the elf made their way up to the Headmaster's office. After Harry knocked on the door, he heard McGonagall say "Come in," and hastened to obey the command.

Apparently, she had been expecting them, because the first words out of her mouth were, "How did it go?"

That, of course, was before she actually saw any of their facial expressions or the excitedly bouncing elf.

"What happened?" she asked, her voice almost as concerned as Harry felt.

But at that very moment, before even Kreacher had the opportunity to respond by recounting his life's most glorious moment, Draco Malfoy's head appeared in the fire-place.

"Potter," he drawled, "You may want to hear what I have to say if you want to save your girlfriend."

A/N: _Right_. Well. That was an interesting chapter to write, anyway, 'cause I wasn't exactly sure how certain things were going to turn out until I started writing it. For instance, when I posted last chapter, I still wasn't sure how Ginny was going to manage to get herself kidnapped (I had had a different plan for how that would happen originally) and I had no _idea _that Snape was going to turn up in this chapter. Granted, Malfoy, I knew about it. But I was particularly surprised about how I ended up focusing on Ron more than normal. Hadn't expected that. Oh well... Here's hoping that at least someone out there is as surprised as I am about this chapter. And let's hope everyone enjoyed it too. Now... I'm not complaining here, but I have noticed that I've been getting about half the reviews for the previous 2 chapters as I was getting for my average chapter over the summer on this piece. Does that mean that my story's half as good, or that people are twice as busy? Hard to tell. Oh well... Just remember, the more reviews, the more the motivation for me to slack off and write fanfiction instead of doing homework.


	12. The Truce Spell

_A/N: All right, thanks to all my reviewers. I've noticed that the reviews lately seem to be more specific than usual, you know, more than just one-liners. And I appreciate that, I really do like to find out what people think. Thanks again to Tigoamy for betaing. Also, thanks to Chickens of Doom who made a good point about the fact that wands are not technically necessary for apparition. I will modify the previous chapter to reflect this in short-order, if I have not already done so before uploading this one. To answer a couple of other review-questions: I think Snape saying "The Dark Lord will get you for this!" is justified because Snape was in a lot of pain and frustration when he said it, and no one can be expected to be overly eloquent under such circumstances. Also, I had intended to make it generally apparent during last chapter that Nagini was in fact dead, and I hope that was clear to most of you. Finally, yes, they've still got Snape's wand at the moment. Okay, with that, let's get on with the chapter._

Chapter 12

The Truce Spell

There was stunned silence in the room for about three seconds after Draco made his announcement. That is to say, rather, that there was stunned silence from the humans concerned. Kreacher had once again taken up his ecstatic muttering at the sight of Malfoy.

Harry was on the point of drawing his wand on Malfoy, but reckoned that he would have time to take his head out of the fire once he saw the wand being drawn. And since he couldn't curse the man, he might as well listen to him.

"Fine, I'm listening," said Harry irritably. He was not, at this point, harboring any hope that Malfoy may make the process of finding Ginny any easier. As Harry reckoned, Malfoy must simply have been the pawn Voldemort sent to tell Harry where Ginny was being held prisoner. Once he went there, there would obviously be a duel between him and Voldemort, which could obviously not end well considering that Voldemort was still immortal. Two of the Horcruxes were still at large, even though Nagini was now most definitely dead, after being Avada-ed not once, but twice.

Malfoy laughed coldly. "No Potter, I need to talk to you alone. And it needs to be some place where I don't have to have my head stuck into a fire-place. So we shall need to meet somewhere."

"What, you expect me to meet you somewhere so that you can set up an ambush for me? I'm not stupid Malfoy," Harry said.

"I have neither the time nor the patience to argue that point with you at the moment," retorted Malfoy. "But I'm sure that a negotiating session could be worked out on terms which you would be comfortable with. Or at least on terms that you can't refuse considering that your girlfriend Ginny Weasley is currently standing petrified in the room behind me."

"You haven't turned her over to Voldemort yet?" asked Harry incredulously, trying to figure out whether this was simply another ploy. Malfoy, of course, shuddered at the mention of Voldemort's name, but Harry had grown fairly used to getting this response from people when he said that name, so he essentially ignored it.

"We shall discuss this at our meeting, Potter," said Malfoy, who was getting rather impatient.

"Fine, you come to the gates at Hogwarts again, and I'll bring enough reinforcements so that you won't try to pull anything funny," demanded Harry.

"Not quite what I had in mind Potter, and you should remember that I've still got a bit of bargaining power here. I propose that we meet in a neutral location, just the two of us." Harry was about to open his mouth to counter this proposition, but Malfoy continued. "I know that you don't trust me Potter, and I don't trust you either. Fortunately, there is an ancient spell that can soothe both of our minds and give us the chance to discuss our terms."

"Oh!" Hermione squeaked. It was clear that she knew what this spell was, and even in the depths of her worry for Ginny and the situation in general, she apparently could not help but be excited about the prospect of witnessing such exciting and obscure magic as the spell in question seemed to be.

Harry reckoned that if Hermione was that excited about it, then it must be a legitimate spell, so he figured he'd follow along, although he definitely strongly resented allowing himself to be led by Malfoy. "Fine, Malfoy, what spell are you talking about?"

"It's called a truce charm. If we have it cast on the two of us, then neither of us will be able to harm the other one until we both agree to call the charm off. If either one of us attempts to do anything to harm the other person before we both agree to call off the charm, then the violator will be killed before even carrying out the harmful action. For instance, if I were to attempt to get you hurt by telling some Death-Eaters where we were meeting so that they would be able to kill you, I would die before I even had the chance to fully divulge the information," explained Malfoy slowly, apparently taking great pride in knowing something that Harry was so obviously ignorant about.

It reminded Harry forcefully of his first encounters with Malfoy prior to the start of term in the first year. Between his encounter with Malfoy in Madame Malkin's and his encounter with him on the first train-ride to Hogwarts, Harry had discovered Malfoy to be a cocky little kid who knew a good bit about the Wizarding World but was too arrogant and prejudiced for his own good. Harry reflected that Malfoy hadn't really changed very much from who he had been during those first few encounters.

"Is he telling the truth?" Harry asked Hermione.

"Yes," answered Hermione and McGonagall in unison. Oddly enough, Harry had quite forgotten that McGonagall was in the room. She had been letting him do all the talking since it was so obvious that Malfoy wanted to talk to him. Harry realized how ironic it was that the Headmistress of Hogwarts was deferring to allow a 17 year old to control the conversation in her own office.

Hermione seemed to have forgotten that McGonagall was present as well. "Oh, I'm sorry professor," she said hastily, "you can explain."

"No, that's all right, you seem to have it under control," said McGonagall politely.

"Well, Harry, basically he's telling you everything you really need to know about the spell," said Hermione. "It really is such an interesting piece of magic. If it weren't for this spell, medieval Europe would never have had a moment without Wizarding Wars going on. All the Medieval Wizards were too paranoid to trust each other, and they never would have been able to get to the negotiating tables if it hadn't been for this spell. Frankly, I don't see why you shouldn't talk to him if he's willing to do this spell. It can't hurt to at least hear him out, and maybe he'll be able to tell you something that could help you find Ginny." Hermione finished with her voice in a hopeful note but her facial expression was a skeptical one, as if she was not willing to accept that Malfoy could possibly have anything helpful to say. Harry basically saw it the same way, figuring that Malfoy would still probably simply just tell him where Voldemort wanted to have their rendezvous. Still, Harry couldn't quite figure out why Malfoy would go to the trouble of bringing up such an old ritualistic spell to do that.

"Fine," agreed Harry. "What do we need to do?"

"We cross our wands and each say, in unison, 'Fido Bellicum.' Now, obviously, the catch is, we have to trust each other enough to allow the other to draw his wand without trying to cast a spell. But the spell also requires the each of us to point our wands at ourselves, so we'll never actually have to have the prospect of having the other person's wand pointed at us. Are you ready?"

Harry was still somewhat confused about just exactly what was going on, but figured that Malfoy would not try anything with 3 other people in the room. Harry drew his wand, pointing the back end of it toward Malfoy.

Malfoy shifted his head in the fire, and his wand hand poked out of the fire, his wand also pointed toward himself.

Harry knelt down beside the fire to bring his wand to a level with Malfoy's. Hermione craned her neck from behind Harry, not wanting to miss seeing such a spell being performed.

After crossing their wands, Malfoy and Harry each pronounced "Fido Bellicum."

After the spell was complete, Malfoy continued. "Okay then. Now you just have to ask everybody else to leave so that you can tell me where we're going to meet."

Harry would have felt rather awkward asking McGonagall to leave her own office, so he was relieved when Ron, McGonagall, and Hermione each left of their own accord. Kreacher stayed put. "Kreacher, I order you to follow Hermione and do whatever she tells you to do until I see you again. Once you see me again, you are to go back to following only my orders."

"Yes, sir," said Kreacher, who was seeming a little bit dejected that Harry had become more adept at closing any loose-ends in his order-giving.

Within seconds, Malfoy and Harry were alone in the room. Or, that is to say, Harry was alone with Malfoy's head in the fire-place. But at any rate, the stage was set for a private conversation which would allow the two enemies to determine a place to meet to discuss the terms of... the terms of what? Was Malfoy expecting Harry to simply surrender himself to Lord Voldemort in exchange for Ginny's life? Or would there be other options put on the table? It seemed to be too early for Harry to get his hopes up about such a prospect.

"So, Potter," Malfoy drawled, "it's only fair to let you decide the place that we meet, wouldn't you say?" Harry was aggravated by Malfoy's tone of voice, which betrayed absolutely nothing about his emotional state or what he might be planning to say at the meeting. Then, as Malfoy had obviously caught an oversight of his that even Harry had not spotted, "And write it down, instead of speaking it out loud. If you say it out loud, the portraits on the walls will be able to hear, and they could tell your friends where to go. And we certainly wouldn't want them to interrupt our little chat, now would we?"

Harry wasn't so sure that he _wouldn't _rather his little chat be interrupted, especially by people from his side, but he figured that it wouldn't do to aggravate Malfoy at this point, on the ever-so-remote chance that he might actually be willing to make Harry an offer that was somewhat useful.

So, he wrote down on a slip of parchment, picking the most neutral location that he could think of, "Ollivander's Wand Shop." The building had been deserted the previous year, when the world-famous wand-maker Ollivander had suddenly disappeared from his normal headquarters in Diagon Alley.

When Harry showed Malfoy the piece of parchment, Malfoy gave a small nod of ascent, and said, "Okay. I'll meet you there in 10 minutes, as you've still got to walk off of Hogwarts' grounds to disapparate. I'd suggest that you Floo there, but I imagine that it would have been taken off the network now that his shop's been abandoned."

What was this? Malfoy was actually talking to Harry civilly for once. True, he had been smug throughout this whole encounter, but he was less offensive than normal. Harry's curiosity continued to mount after Malfoy withdrew his head from the fire. Harry left the Headmistress's office, telling the others that he was going to have to meet Malfoy personally.

McGonagall and Hermione nodded their assent, although each looked quite as curious as Harry himself felt.

Ron was not quite as pleased. "I don't trust him. I've never heard about this Fido Bellicum spell, but I _have _heard of Draco Malfoy, and I have a feeling that he'll figure out a way to dodge the effects of the spell and hurt Harry anyway, if given the chance."

"Well," said Hermione rationally, "if he does, he's a much better wizard than any of us thought. No one in the history of Magic has ever figured out a way to break a Truce Spell, and it'd be rather impressive if Malfoy was the first one to pull it off."

"Yeah, Ron," said Harry, attempting to reassure Ron. "I don't know why, but Malfoy really wants to seem to talk to me, and I don't think he'd give up the opportunity by scaring me away if he tried to curse me. And he could pretty easily have killed you while you were paralyzed in front of him, but he didn't. Malfoy's acting rather strangely lately, and maybe that will act in our favor tonight. At any rate, if he tries to curse me, I still think that I'm better at him in dueling. And if he broke the truce first, I don't see why I shouldn't be able to break it."

Ron was still reluctant to trust Malfoy, but could see that Harry was set on going. "Well, anyway, you'd better hurry if you're going. If Malfoy's using this extra time before you get there to set some kind of trap, you don't want to give him any extra time to do so."

So Harry walked with a quick pace back down to the gate of the Hogwarts' grounds.

As he walked, he fumed about what an eventful night this had been so far. He had accomplished quite a lot. In his duel with Snape he had proven that he was up to snuff in Occlumency and was capable of defeating a wizard whom, as substandard a person as he might be in other ways, was quite good at dueling. Beside that, he had succeeded in the original goal of the evening, which had been killing Nagini. But he had not had time to relish in either of these victories given the fact that Ginny was now in mortal peril even as he walked.

As the words "mortal peril" flashed across his mind, Harry's mind was drawn irresistibly to the clock in the Weasleys' house, on which all the hands representing the different Weasleys were _already _pointed at "mortal peril." The one benefit of that was that at least Mrs. Weasley wouldn't know that her daughter was at this moment in more danger than she normally was. Harry knew, of course, that someone would soon have to notify her, but he thought that any extra moment of relative peace that Mrs. Weasley could grab was worthwhile. She was a very nice woman and did not at all deserve the stress which she had already been subject to over the past several years.

This train of thought carried Harry clear to the gate at the edge of the grounds, and once on the other side of it, he did not waste any time in apparating to Ollivander's abandoned wand shop.

Upon arriving, he found himself looking at Malfoy by the light of a self-contained levitating fire that Malfoy had apparently conjured while waiting for Harry.

"So, what do you want?" asked Harry shortly.

"No need to be so impatient, Potter," taunted Malfoy calmly. "We'll come to that in good time. I want you to know, first of all, that Ginny is still safe. She has not been turned over to the Dark Lord. I am here to make an offer concerning how she may be able to avoid that fate."

"So you're willing to release her... for what?" asked Harry, who was torn between anger and curiosity. He was leaning toward anger, of course, but felt that anger was not an emotion which was proper to display in a negotiation session. Especially one in which the stakes were so high. "And besides, why hasn't Voldemort come looking for her yet? Isn't he wondering why you haven't turned her over?"

"He would be," said Malfoy calmly, tossing and catching his wand in his hand, "if he had ordered me to capture her in the first place. But he had not. Of course, I _will _hand her over if you don't accept my terms. The Dark Lord would certainly not turn _down _such a gracious offering as a young girl as important to you as Ginny is. And I suspect that he would be pleased to have her company for other reasons than pure strategy as well. She is rather good-looking, I must admit," sneered Draco.

It took all the restraint Harry had not to attack Malfoy at this point. He might even have forgone the magical route and simply punched Malfoy repeatedly in the nose. But the small part of Harry's mind which was still thinking rationally was quite aware that such action would undoubtedly be counted as breaking the truce spell, and would therefore result in his own death. So he took a deep breath and, struggling to keep his voice from turning into a shout, said, "What are your terms, Malfoy?"

"When I was about to kill Dumbledore, he offered me protection from Lord Voldemort for myself and my family if I were to refrain from killing him. I was on the verge of accepting the offer at that moment, but I was prevented by that idiot Snape and the other Death-eaters," Malfoy started. Harry was rather stunned at how quickly Malfoy's loyalties had turned. In years past, he had always been firmly loyal to Snape. And although Harry knew from certain eavesdropped conversations that during the previous year their relationship had become a bit strained, he had not expected Malfoy would call him an idiot. But then, Slytherins were certainly not known for their loyalty. Malfoy continued, "Once Snape and I reported to The Dark Lord, he was furious at both of us because I had not proven my worth, and Snape had not allowed me to. I was under the Cruciatus Curse for almost a half-hour total, over that night."

Harry cringed in spite of himself. Harry had experienced the Cruciatus curse a couple of times over his life, but he knew that suffering for a half hour, even in smaller chunks, over the curse of a night, would have been quite enough to break most wizards. Harry was rather surprised that Malfoy had not ended up in St. Mungo's.

"I'm not looking for pity," spat Malfoy, who was obviously quite more offended by Harry's pity than he tended to be by his insults. "I'm simply explaining myself here so that you can understand why I'm attempting to switch my loyalties. I realized at some point during the torture that being forced to submit to such torture was the ultimate sign of subordination. Every man under the Dark Lord's regime is no better than a bloody house-elf. And I'm not even sure that the Dark Lord can even _win _this damn war. I mean, sure Dumbledore's dead now, but that was as much _my _doing as it was the Dark Lord's. _He _had never figured out a way to get his troops into Hogwarts' castle. And since the connection I made had been broken in the aftermath of Dumbledore's death, there has not been another attack on the bloody castle in spite of the fact that it's now being run by _McGonagall_. And in the sixteen years since he's first attempted it, neither him nor any of his other troops have been able to kill _you_. And I don't much fancy myself playing the house-elf to a Dark Lord who can't even kill a half-blood Gryffindor who didn't even know he was a wizard until he was 11 years old."

Harry was perplexed. Was Malfoy attempting to surrender here?

"Why are you so confident that we can save you from Voldemort? How do you know you're not already in too deep?" asked Harry. He had two motives for posing this question. First, it was really starting to make Harry angry that Malfoy still seemed so secure in his position. He wanted to cause Malfoy to squirm. Merlin knew the little brat deserved it. But his other motivation was that Harry himself wasn't quite sure how he would deliver on these terms even if he wanted to.

"Well, Dumbledore mentioned something about making it look like my mother and I were killed. And I'm sure that your lot could still pull that off now, even without the doddering fool Dumbledore. And I also happen to know that your lot has a headquarters that the Dark Lord's side has not yet been able to infiltrate. Snape was able to get himself in there, since Dumbledore trusted him; but since he wasn't the Secret-Keeper, he still can't let anyone else in. I suppose Dumbledore had been the secret-keeper, but I'm sure that you could figure out who the current secret-keeper is, and you could get me there. My mother and I could spend the rest of the war there, as Dumbledore had suggested. And if it looks like your lot is about to lose the war, I can kill myself before I'm captured. I have no intention of withstanding the Cruciatus Curse ever again if I can help it. And, of course, if your lot _do _win, I imagine that I'd be in a better position having surrendered _now _than if I waited until the Dark Lord was killed to do so," explained Malfoy.

Malfoy seemed to be sincere. And what was stranger was that he seemed to be being a complete Slytherin about all of this. He was acting not out of nobility, but simply weighing his options. He could live as a slave under Voldemort's regime or as a free man on the other side. It was almost enough to make Harry believe he was actually serious in his will to surrender. It didn't do much to help him believe that Malfoy actually _deserved _their protection though. But, of course, there was still the question of Ginny.

"If what you were aiming to do was surrender, why didn't you simply do that, instead of going to the trouble of kidnapping Ginny first?" asked Harry.

"You really _are _stupid, aren't you, Potter?" asked Malfoy. "I needed to prove to you lot that I still had something to offer you. Even the supposedly kind Dumbledore didn't bother to offer me amnesty until I was threatening his life. I couldn't expect you lot to let me off scot-free without my offering something in return. So my proposition is that your side gets Ginny and holds me prisoner in a secure location until the end of the war. At that point, I should gain amnesty from any prosecution after the war."

"But once we agree to hide you, how would we know that we could trust you? You obviously have no qualms about bartering your loyalty for your own gain," countered Harry.

"Bloody _hell, _Potter. Sometimes you are so _stupid_. You'd swear that hanging around that filthy mud-blood Granger so often, you'd have picked up at least _some _of her intelligence. I could simply make an unbreakable vow to not leave the premises of wherever the prison is. Then if I'd leave, I'd die. Really, Potter, there's no reason for you not to take this deal. Unless you're too full of yourself to accept an offer from me, or if you're not really as attached to your girlfriend as everyone seems to think you are," said Malfoy.

And as much as Harry hated to admit it, Malfoy was right. Although Harry was not necessarily convinced that the Order would not have agreed to hide Malfoy had he not first kidnapped Ginny, it was certain that he could not now refuse to help.

"Why did you need to talk to me about this instead of McGonagall or someone else in the Order?" asked Harry.

"Two reasons: First, Snape mentioned at one point that you technically owned the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix, so I knew that if I was to stay there you'd have to be consulted eventually anyway, so you were the one to convince. Also, I figured you'd have more vested interest in Ginny than McGonagall would. And if I convince you, I know that no one will have the nerve to oppose letting me surrender, even if they might otherwise. They'd be so impressed by your 'nobility' in reconciling with me that they wouldn't have the nerve to contradict it," Malfoy's tone made it clear that he thought this fact to be somewhat ridiculous, even if it _was_ helpful to him.

"I suppose your right," said Harry slowly.

"Well, then, Potter. What'll it be? I shall take you to Weasley if you recommend to McGonagall that I be granted amnesty and safe haven in Order of the Phoenix Headquarters for the Duration of the War, along with my mother and my father if he ever gets out of prison," said Malfoy.

"I can't necessarily guarantee the amnesty of your father, Malfoy," said Harry reasonably. "He's already been prosecuted for crimes he has committed. You may still be able to get off scot-free, as you didn't technically kill Dumbledore and have not been formally prosecuted for anything. Same goes for your mother," said Harry.

"Yes, well... you could be right about my father. But you should at least be able to offer that your lot will attempt to protect him from Voldemort if he tries to retaliate against him for my defection, assuming that the killing ruse doesn't work," bargained Malfoy.

"Fine," said Harry, with some difficulty. It was costing him a great deal to bargain with such a conniving wizard, but he really had no choice. "I accept your terms. Now take me to Ginny."

"Give me your wand, and I'll apparate us there. You will be able to take Ginny with you back to Hogwarts, along with me. I'll give you your wand back once you fulfill your end of the bargain. I still can't bring myself to fully trust you, but I reckon that your wand should be a sufficient deposit as you seem to think yourself too noble to break your word. And don't worry, even if I have your wand, I still can't hurt you before we end our truce, which would after-all require you to have your wand back."

Harry obeyed, hating himself all the while for following Malfoy's orders again. He swore to himself that he would never again allow himself to fall into a position where he was forced to bargain with a death-eater, albeit a defecting one. Harry grudgingly grabbed on to Malfoy, and was immediately transported along with him into a dimly lit room.

"Where the hell are we now?" asked Harry, feeling uncomfortably out of his element.

"We're in Malfoy Manor," said Malfoy. "And I'm not sure that I like letting you be in here, so let's get out, quickly. There's Weasley," finished Malfoy, pointing over to a wall where Ginny was chained, dungeon-style, though she was clearly conscious. Leave it to the Malfoys to have a dungeon in their manor. "She can't talk, at the moment; I got tired of her complaining so I silenced her. You can undo that once you get your wand back. For now, let's just get this over with and get back to Hogwarts. If you grab onto her while you're apparating, the chains will stay back here and she'll be freed."

So Harry did so, and soon enough, the three of them had materialized once again in front of the gate at Hogwarts.

"Oh, right," said Malfoy. "I suppose I'll have to wait on this side of the gate. When I tried to walk through them earlier, there was an invisible wall there. I suppose the gate is trained to recognize students and let them through, but not anyone else."

"Could I have my wand back?" asked Harry.

"No, you have to come back here with McGonagall and advise her to take me and my mother to the headquarters first," said Malfoy.

"Fine. But first reverse your spell on Ginny, I want to be able to talk to her," said Harry.

"Oh, fine," said Malfoy. "She can go with you, but she's not getting her wand back either until you bring McGonagall back here."

Malfoy gave Ginny her voice back, and Harry and Ginny walked together until they were a bit away from Malfoy. At that point they took a brief stop to enjoy their reunion.

Harry hugged Ginny close. "I was so worried, Ginny. Please never scare me like that again!" advised Harry.

"Well, maybe if you'd take me along on your important snake-killing missions, I wouldn't have time to get myself in trouble," said Ginny with a sly grin. Harry found it amazing that this girl who had just moments ago been a prisoner in Malfoy's Manor was apparently none the worse for wear and still in good humor. But then, Harry remembered, Ginny had been through considerably worse experiences in her day.

After a brief reunion-kiss, they made their way back up to the castle. Within another ten minutes, a very confused McGonagall, Hermione, Kreacher and Ron were following Harry and Ginny.

"Wait, you mean he's defected?" asked Ron, on their way back down to the gate. If nothing else tonight, Harry thought with a bit of humor, which was possible since Ginny was safe again, he was getting quite a work-out tonight.

"Yes, apparently," said Harry. "He's got a couple of conditions though... Although I suppose we _could _take him by force now... He just knows we won't. Something about our nobility or something."

"_Can't _we kill him?" asked Ron, who apparently still hadn't gotten over the emasculating feeling of having his sister kidnapped right under his nose.

"No, Ron, we've got to have principals. If we give up on things like that, then Voldemort's principals will win even if he himself doesn't," said Hermione impatiently.

"Would you guys mind arguing some other time?" asked Harry impatiently. "Professor McGonagall, do you know who the Secret Keeper for Grimmauld place is now?"

"Yes, it's me," said McGonagall. "Why?"

"Well, that's the conditions of Malfoy's surrender. He wants to be kept prisoner at Grimmauld place along with his mother for the duration of the war, and then be released without charges once the war is over."

"I suppose that could probably be arranged," said McGonagall thoughtfully. "At least we could house him in Grimmauld place with his mother. But the charges wouldn't really be up to me."

"Well... He's not in much of a position to quibble at the moment," said Harry. "He can't refuse the terms any-more. I think he knows that even with some charges he'd be in a better position now than if he waited until the end of the war to surrender."

"That's probably true," agreed McGonagall.

The conversation on the rest of the way down to the gate was basically consumed by each of the others asking Ginny about how her ordeal had been and whether she was okay.

Once they all saw Malfoy, McGonagall talked shortly. "Yes, we'll allow you safe haven until the end of the war, and although we cannot technically offer a plea-bargain at this point, I will personally attest that your defection at this stage should be taken into account. You come with me now, and I'll take you to Grimmauld place where you shall make an unbreakable vow to neither leave nor do anything destructive while you're there. Within the next few days, we shall retrieve your mother and create a farce to make it appear that both you and she were killed while trying to resist an Order raid on your house."

"Okay," agreed Malfoy. He handed Ginny and Harry back their wands. As a formality, though neither would really have a chance to hurt each other in the foreseeable future, they also ended the truce spell.

"All right, then, the rest of you are free to go," said McGonagall. "I believe a celebration is in order, as I learned from Hermione that our mission tonight was ultimately successful."

"Wait a second," said Harry thoughtfully. "Why don't we have Kreacher go with Malfoy to keep the house livable and whatnot?"

"That sounds like a good idea," said McGonagall.

"All right, fine," said Harry. "Kreacher, you are to take care of Malfoy. You may follow whatever orders he gives you just so long as none of these orders will cause harm to any person or any of my possessions." He knew that Malfoy would not even be able to give orders of this type given that McGonagall's unbreakable vow that she would make with Malfoy once he got to the house would prevent him from causing any harm.

After that, the four teens began walking back toward the castle, McGonagall and Draco disapparating with a pop behind them.

"Well," said Harry with slight amusement as they walked. "That was one interesting night."

_A/N: One interesting night indeed. At least I hope so. Because if not, then it was pretty much a waste for me to write over two chapters about it. Well... anyway, thanks for reading, and I hope you like it so far. I'm not sure if you're all going to buy the Malfoy defection, but I hope I did a good job of explaining how it really is in keeping with his Slytherinesque character. Oh well. That said, I myself don't think that this is one of my better chapters, not overly exciting or funny or even romantically satisfying. But it was necessary to the plot, and I think it showed a bit about both Malfoy's and Harry's characters as I intend to portray them. So, hopefully you lot liked the chapter anyway. Let me know! One more thing, quick, Fido Bellicum is from Latin and means, approximately, I trust the enemy.._


	13. Research and Hints

A/N: All right, sorry for the ridiculous delay. I would claim that the updates will be more regular from this point on, but the last several times I've said that, I've turned out to be lying. But here's one more chapter at least, and I don't go back to college for another two weeks, so I _should _be able to get a few more chapters up before then, and then maybe I'll stay at least somewhat consistent even while I'm there. Either way, thanks to everyone has been reading up to this point, and to those who have reviewed recently, even when I hadn't posted for awhile. That helped motivate me to finally get around to finishing this chapter. I hope you enjoy it. Oh, also, as I haven't been in contact with my Beta for the past couple months, I decided to put this chapter up unbeta'd although I have proofread it myself. If there are still glaring spelling errors, I urge you to imagine that the words are spelled right instead. Because what's fanfiction about if not using your imagination?

Chapter 13

Research and Clues

That night, the four teens relished their victory. They had one more Horcrux taken care of, and they had come off without any casualties in spite of a few close shaves. They had much to be proud of. But as the next days went by, that feeling faded, and Harry once again began to be eaten away at by the question of whether he was doing quite enough to find the other Horcruxes.

Apparently, he was becoming rather withdrawn from Ginny, Hermione, and Ron, which was something that Ginny brought up with him one day when he, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny were putting the Dining Hall back into order after another of their Saturday Dumbledore's Army meetings. The club had been meeting every Saturday since the beginning the term, and there was a special meeting on Wednesday evenings for third years and up, so that they could get some extra practice on the spells which the first and second years weren't ready for yet anyway.

But after this particular meeting, on the third Saturday in November, Ginny looked at Hermione and Ron meaningfully before addressing Harry. "Harry, we've been a bit worried about you lately. You're not talking as much as usual. We all figure that you're probably thinking about the Horcruxes, but we don't know why you won't discuss the stuff with us."

"Well, I'm sorry you guys noticed," said Harry, although his tone made it clear that he was actually thankful that his friends were looking out for him. "I was trying to spare you from it, as it seems you guys aren't quite as worried. But you might have noticed that we haven't made any progress in finding either of the remaining two Horcruxes, in spite of our best efforts in the library over the past few weeks. I'm starting to wonder whether we're actually going to be able to do this, or if Voldemort's going to remain immortal forever."

"Bloody Hell, Harry, stop being such a downer. We can do this," said Ginny. "Or, rather, _you _can do this, and we'll do as much as you let us do to help you."

"Yeah, mate. We've just hit a rough patch in our search. Don't you remember how long we were looking for any clue on Nicolas Flamel during first year before we found him on a Chocolate Frog card? All those hours in the library didn't end up meaning a thing. Maybe we ought to think about trying other tacts, but it's not going to do to give up hope. Remember, not too long ago, Malfoy defected from that side. You're not telling me you have less faith in yourself than Malfoy does, are you?" asked Ron.

"I think Ron could be right," said Hermione hesitantly. "About trying the new tacts, I mean."

Harry couldn't argue with the logic that they ought to try a different approach since the one they were using was so clearly failing. But he _was _a bit confused about Hermione's tone of voice when she agreed with him.

He looked at her skeptically. "What's on your mind?" he asked.

"Oh, nothing," she said with an affected airy tone. But she wasn't fooling anyone. Except maybe Ron, but he can be downright daft sometimes when it comes to emotions.

Oddly, though it was Ron who first responded to her fake tone of ease. "I reckon maybe you might as well tell him now," said Ron.

Harry was completely caught off guard by this, and by the looks of it, so was Ginny.

"Tell me what?" asked Harry, beginning to get irritated in spite of himself. Why did people always seem to want to keep things from him?

"No, Harry, please don't be mad," pleaded Hermione.

"I won't have the chance not to be mad unless you tell me what the hell's going on," said Harry, trying very hard to keep his voice calm.

"We would have told you sooner, but you seemed so stressed out as it is. We didn't want to worry you about this unless it works, but it seems like we might be making some progress now," said Ron, talking quickly, apparently so that Harry would not have time to interrupt.

"Making progress on what, damn it?" asked Harry, generally failing to keep his voice even.

"We, er..." Hermione was clearly struggling to get this out. Harry almost felt sorry for her, but was having a hard time doing so considering that she was obviously keeping something from him. Back during the summer before fifth year, it had been different. Ron and Hermione had kept things from him because they had no choice. But now it seemed that they had taken to keeping secrets from him of their own accord.

"Hermione suggested that we take another look at Rowena's diary," Ron blurted, apparently relieved to get the secret out into the open.

"But it's in my trunk," said Harry slowly. "You were knicking stuff from my trunk?" Harry really was trying not to get too angry here. He knew that his friends had the best of intentions, but he was having a hard time not feeling a little bit betrayed here. If he couldn't trust his two best friends to tell him what they were up to, then who _could_ he trust? Well. He could trust Ginny. It was easy to tell by looking at her that she was quite as surprised about this new development as he was.

"Look, we understand that you're mad," said Hermione. Well. She didn't get the reputation for being the smartest witch in their year for nothing then, did she? "But you seemed stressed out enough already, what with leading Dumbledore's Army, and working on the research in the library and everything. And we were pretty sure that this wouldn't even _work_. But we've taken to asking the diary questions again. And it seems to be coming around. It did get a bit suspicious when we started writing to it in different hand-writing. Wanted to know how we had come across it. We told it and everything, and it seems to believe us. Started giving us a few tidbits of information, mostly because we got it on the defensive by saying that the reason that you had put it down for so long was that we didn't really believe that Rowena had known anything about the Horcruxes other than the one she had managed to break. So, she told us about how she suspected one of the other Horcruxes was Slytherin's ring. And we remembered you told us about that. And so we gained a bit of her confidence by telling her what we found out from you about the House of Gaunt and how young Riddle came across Hufflepuff's goblet. She told us that she knew about the cup, and she claims that she has a pretty good idea where it is. And she says that she won't tell us anything else until you write in the journal again. She trusts you more than either of us, 'cause you were the one who actually pulled her from the grave-stone, and that means you had the qualities she was looking for... 'love, humility, and independence,' as she put it. I've read over your conversations with her several times. Practically have it memorized. But anyway... We were considering telling you soon anyway, we just needed to find a decent time to bring it up."

Harry considered all this. It was fairly reasonable. And it seemed like they might have found a lead. But it was ridiculous that they felt it necessary to creep around behind his back to do so. He understood why they did it, but didn't like people trying to protect his emotions. He shook his head. The room had been put basically back into order, as Ginny had continued putting things back during Hermione's speech, apparently feeling awkward in this conversation.

"How long have you guys been writing in this thing without telling me?" asked Harry. Perhaps if it was a small amount of time, the transgression would be easier to forgive.

"Er... a week," said Ron. His tone of voice betrayed that he knew how bad this sounded.

"But it was only Wednesday night when it actually started telling us anything, and wasn't until yesterday that it said anything about the goblet. We spaced out our conversations so as to keep ourselves from getting frustrated. That little journal certainly is an arrogant brain-teaser," answered Hermione.

"Wait a second. I remember on Wednesday night, you guys skived off the DA meeting, telling me you needed to work on a transfiguration essay. You're telling me that was a lie?" asked Harry.

"Er..." said Ron.

"Bloody hell. This is getting ridiculous. I can't even talk about this right now," said Harry, and he left the room.

"Harry, wait!" called Ron and Hermione in unison.

Ginny exchanged looks with both Ron and Hermione after Harry had left the room. "Right. I'll try to talk to him then, shall I?" she asked.

"Tell him it was all Hermione's fault!" instructed Ron.

"Ron!" said Hermione. "Just tell him that we really _were _trying to help him..."

"Right-o," said Ginny as she made her way out of the room.

She was about to decide whether she thought Harry would have gone back toward the common room or walked out toward the grounds. She was just thinking that he probably went back toward the common room considering how chilly it was outside when she saw him sitting on the stairs leading down to the grounds.

She opened the door and went down to sit beside him.

"It's cold," she commented.

"I like the cold sometimes," explained Harry. "Helps me think."

Without saying anything else, he got up and began walking. Ginny followed, walking beside him. He put an arm around her and drew her close. The walking-hug made movement a bit difficult, but did help a bit with the cold.

"So, you're _thinking _again, are you?" asked Ginny. "I'm not really sure whether you're qualified to do that, but go on if you must. Just try not to hurt yourself."

"I won't," Harry assured her with a slight grin. Then he got serious again. "Have I really been that dark and brooding lately that they'd have to go behind my back?"

"No," said Ginny. "At least, I don't think so. I mean... I'd've told you, but they didn't tell me either. But you _do _understand that they weren't trying to be meddlesome or anything, don't you? They were just trying to help."

"I know," said Harry, sighing heavily. "But I don't like it when people keep things from me. It's like they think I've got the weight of the world of my shoulders and they feel that it'd be wrong for them to add any more."

"You don't like that because they're wrong about it?" asked Ginny.

Harry considered this for a moment. "I guess I do have a lot of pressure already," conceded Harry hesitantly. He didn't like admitting stuff like that because it seemed like he was admitting weakness. He still didn't like to do that, but he trusted Ginny enough that he felt he could talk about this with her.

"Yes, I suppose you do," said Ginny, smiling at the extent of Harry's understatement.

They walked for a few more steps in silence, looking around the grounds, which were fairly deserted today on account of the cold. Harry realized he had been unconsciously walking in the direction of Hagrid's hut.

"Reckon Hagrid would be in the mood to have some tea with us?" Harry asked Ginny.

"I'd imagine so," said Ginny, looking at Harry appraisingly, trying to figure out whether he was finished being angry at Ron and Hermione yet.

Harry seemed to catch the meaning of her penetrating look, and smiled slightly. "I'm not angry or anything," he explained. "I just need a little bit of time to gather my thoughts before seeing them again."

Ginny decided it was best not to argue, and figured that it would be nice to see Hagrid anyway, as she hadn't seen much of their jovial half-giant friend lately anyway. When they arrived and knocked on Hagrid's door, Ginny was glad she had come, as Hagrid seemed happy to see them. Fang was quite excited too, which he made known by nearly knocking Harry over when he attempted to come into the door once Hagrid had opened it.

"Where are Hermione and Ron?" asked Hagrid once he had begun making the tea.

"You know, doing some homework or something," said Harry evasively, deciding not to mention that he had just had somewhat of a shouting match with his two best friends. The issue was basically resolved at this point, and he didn't need to concern Hagrid with an argument that was over anyway.

Hagrid seemed to take a different meaning from Harry's evasive conversational tactics. "Decided to give the two of them some time alone then, eh?" asked Hagrid, giving a knowing wink and a grin. Hagrid, of course, knew that Ron and Hermione were dating, and the concept seemed to amuse him quite as much as it had amused Harry when he first found out.

Ginny grinned back, "Yes, well, they can get to be something of a bore, always looking at each other with longing gazes, and holding each other's hands like they're afraid the other might wander off like an unsupervised 5 year old."

"And I'm sure the two of you don't do anything of that sort?" asked Hagrid with a skeptical smile.

"Well, Harry tries, but I'm just a bit too macho for that kind of stuff," said Ginny, attempting but failing to suppress a giggle.

"I knew it," said Hagrid, in a scandalized tone. "You're nothing but a couple of hopeless romantics."

"Kind of like you and Madame Maxime?" asked Harry with a smile.

Hagrid began to blush but was saved further embarrassment by the whistling of the tea kettle. "Tea's done, then," said Hagrid.

The three of them continued in small talk for a good half hour as they drank their tea.

After tea, Harry and Ginny apologetically excused themselves, telling Hagrid that they had some work they needed to do. Hagrid, of course, probably assumed that they were referring to homework assignments that they needed to work on, but Harry had quite a different kind of work on his mind.

"So Hermione and Ron have been talking to our good friend Rowena again have they?" asked Harry once they were out of earshot of Hagrid's cabin.

"Sounds like," replied Ginny, who knew that Harry meant the question rhetorically, as he understood that she personally had nothing to do with Ron and Hermione's plan.

"Sounded like they thought they were getting close too. 'Course, I won't believe 'til I see it, and even then I'll be suspicious, considering what the woman's put us through so far," said Harry.

"Yes, a right pain of a dead woman, this one," agreed Ginny.

"Ah well, if nothing else, an hour or so fighting with the diary will make that Transfiguration Essay I've got to write for Monday look like a treat," grumbled Harry.

Ginny grinned. "Since when did _you _get to be such an optimist?" she asked.

"I guess since I had the good fortune to be dating the prettiest girl at Hogwarts," said Harry returning the smile.

"No, no, you went out with Cho during fifth year, and you were most definitely morbid then," teased Ginny.

"First of all, I was never really 'dating' her, and second of all, you know what I really meant," said Harry with mock irritation.

"You mean that you're only dating me for my looks!" accused Ginny playfully.

Harry rolled his eyes and said, "Women," at which they both laughed.

About ten minutes later, the couple made it up to the Gryffindor common-room, where they met Ron and Hermione. Each of them looked at Harry expectantly.

"Look, Harry, we're really-" started Hermione.

"Shh, look, I know. We'll talk about that later," said Harry quietly, glancing conspiratorially around the common room. It looked like nobody was paying much attention to them at the moment, but Harry didn't want to bank on that fact. "Where is it?"

Hermione and Ron each looked a bit surprised by Harry's sudden interest in seeing the journal, but were nonetheless eager to help. "It's up in Hermione's trunk, enchanted to look like an ugly sweater so that no one will take it," explained Ron.

"Clever," registered Harry, who hadn't even thought of putting security measures on the journal to keep it in his possession.

"Well, we were nervous enough about how you'd react when you found out we took the journal, we didn't want to risk having to explain to you that we had lost the thing as well," said Hermione.

"Right," agreed Harry, who knew that he would have been downright furious had his friends snuck behind his back and cost him what seemed to be his only lead on the Horcruxes at the moment. Of course, he hadn't been pumping it for information much lately, but now that the journal had been brought up, Harry suspected that the it still might have some help to give, assuming that Rowena would cooperate. "Anyway," continued Harry, "could you get it then?"

Now Hermione looked around the common room, which was, of course, plenty crowded considering that the weather was cold and it was a Saturday. "You want to work on it _here_?" she asked incredulously.

"Of course not," replied Harry calmly. Then he lowered his voice. "I was thinking more along the lines of the Room of Requirement."

Hermione nodded in understanding and quickly nipped up to her room to grab the journal. While she was gone, Ron shot a sidelong grin at Harry. "So, if this works, then we're still best mates, right?"

"Of course, we're still best mates," said Harry, "just no more knicking stuff out of my trunk, all right?" Ron looked like he was ready to say something, so Harry groaned and said, "And yes, I _know_ it was Hermione's idea."

Ron grinned, and said, "No, I was just going to say that I wouldn't have taken it without good reason," then, seeing Hermione heading back down the stairs to the common room, he added in an undertone, "But yeah, it _was_ Hermione's idea."

"Good idea, about the Room of Requirement," said Ginny, once they were walking through an empty corridor and able to speak freely. "Maybe if we walk past thinking about how much we need to pump this bloody journal dry of information, the room will turn up equipped with a bunch of journal-torturing supplies. If the thing doesn't talk this time, we force the information out of it!" she joked.

"Well, let's hope it doesn't come to that," said Harry.

Ten minutes later, the four teens were in the Room of Requirement, which had apparently decided that all they required was a nearly empty room with a table atop which sat a quill and an ink-well, as well as four chairs and, for some reason, a chalkboard.

They eyed the chalkboard with mild confusion for a moment before seating themselves around the table. "Right, well, guess you might as well write in it, then, as it still doesn't fully trust us," said Hermione.

As Harry was flipping through the pages to find the first blank one, he noticed that he didn't actually see Ron's handwriting at all, so it appeared that by "us" Hermione meant her. It made sense, of course, that Ron would have let Hermione do the writing, as she generally did seem to have more in common with the Ravenclaw heir than either Ron or Harry.

Eventually, Harry found a blank page and began to write. "The people who were writing recently are my friends. They were writing to help me find the Horcruxes."

Harry was about to read this out loud for the benefit of Hermione, Ron, and Ginny, but was surprised to find it wasn't necessary, as when he glanced up, he noticed that the blackboard also showed the words that Harry had written on the page. Hermione, Ginny, and Ron each also seemed surprised with this, but redirected their attention there anyway in order to wait for Rowena's response.

Even though none of the teens knew how it was happening, the blackboard showed the words that Rowena wrote as they appeared in the journal. For a split second, Harry considered being apprehensive about the fact that he didn't know what kind of magic was behind it, but then remembered that he didn't know what kind of magic was behind the Room of Requirement in the first place, so he decided that there was really very little use quibbling.

At any rate, Rowena responded in her usual manner, in which condescension seemed to be present in the very hand-writing used. Her answer read,

"Yes, well, I had assumed that even a Gryffindor wouldn't have been stupid enough to allow something as valuable as this journal to fall into the wrong plans, but one can never be too cautious about this type of thing. At any rate, the one who wrote to me, Hermione, seems rather intelligent, so I am glad that there is yet some hope that you will find the remaining Horcruxes."

Hermione seemed to swell slightly with pride at being called intelligent by Rowena, but she quickly attempted to hide it.

"There would be much surer of a chance if you would just tell me where you think they are!" Harry scrawled back angrily.

"Yes, well, you didn't really expect it would be that easy, did you?" the diary asked.

"If you were really on our side, you'd give us the information you've got and let us use it how we see fit!" responded Harry.

"Not true. My plan is to give you hints, telling you the things I knew for certain to be true before I formulated my opinion of where the Horcruxes may be hidden. If you come to the same theory as I do, I shall confirm it, which nearly proves that we have both come to the correct assumption."

"So you admit that you might not know the correct location of the Horcruxes?" asked Harry.

"Yes, a healthy amount of humility is required for true wisdom. If I send you out to the wrong locations, you would be less likely to trust me, and you would risk getting injured in your quests." replied Rowena.

Harry nearly snorted with laughter when Rowena referred to herself as humble, and even Hermione, who seemed to be Rowena's biggest fan out of the four of them, looked skeptical.

However, after shaking his head a bit over Rowena's skewed definition of humility, he decided to choose his battles, and focused instead on a bit of the response that seemed more relevant. "Why would we be injured? Are the locations where the Horcruxes dangerous?"

Harry asked this not because he was afraid of encountering danger, but because he thought that by focusing on notoriously dangerous places, the four might be able to narrow down where the Horcruxes might be hidden.

"I have already visited one of the places where I believe a Horcrux is hidden, and found the location protected by strong dark magic. I believe that Voldemort must have set up a security situation much like the one in the cave in which he hid the locket. At the time when I investigated the area, I had not fully recovered from the effects of the potion covering the locket, and did not feel ready to attempt another search. Unfortunately I did not have a chance to go back there, and as my time was drawing short when I was preparing this journal, I fear I shall not have time to go back. However, the presence of the dark magic there helps to strengthen my belief that the Horcrux is there," said Rowena.

"Well," wrote Harry, "what are the clues that you can give us?"

"Well, first of all, pay attention to the fact that the location was fairly predictable. I did not have to use much information that I got from my time working with Voldemort to come up with the location. In fact, I think that if I were in your position, knowing what you already know, I would be able to come up with the location independently."

Harry looked at the page, puzzled. "That's not a clue, that's her bragging!" he said out loud, still not sure what to write back in response to the message.

"No, it _is_ a clue, we've just got to think about it a bit," said Hermione, clearly excited that she apparently had the resources to solve this mystery at her fingertips.

"Oh, this should be _great _fun, then," said Ron sarcastically. "I still don't know why she won't come out and _tell_ us anything."

"Are there any other clues, then?" wrote Harry irritably, still generally disliking this journal.

"Not at the moment. You just tell me what it is that you think you know, and I'll tell you which areas to focus on," responded the journal.

"All right," said Hermione, rubbing her hands together. "What do we know?"

"That we should have burned this journal weeks ago?" asked Ginny.

Ron and Harry each nodded their agreement fervently. However, then Harry spoke up. "Well, we only know where he hid the locket. And that was a cave where he terrified some orphans. When Rowena mentioned it on the first page of the journal, she said it was the place where he…" Harry flipped back to the first page of the journal for quick reference, "'…first used his burgeoning powers against helpless children.' So it sounds like at least in that case, the place where the Horcrux was planted coincides with an important event in Voldemort's life."

"And also a place where Voldemort showed his power to terrify his audience," noted Ginny.

"I think you guys might be onto something. Write it down and see if that's what she's referring to," suggested Hermione.

So, Harry wrote what they had come up with, and waited for Rowena's response.

"That's a good start," commended the journal. "But it's not the only thing that you know that's applicable here."

"But that's all we know about the locations of the Horcrux," responded Harry, starting to get frustrated again, after what had seemed like a momentary breakthrough.

"Then broaden your thinking. What else do you know about the Horcruxes in general that might help you find where this one is hidden?" responded the journal.

"Oh!" said Hermione. "The founders! Most of the Horcruxes are related to one of the four founders! Slytherin's locket, Slytherin's ring, Hufflepuff's cup, and something from either Ravenclaw or Gryffindor! Maybe the location of the Horcrux has something to do with the founders as well."

"Maybe," said Harry skeptically.

Nonetheless, he began to write. "Voldemort was really interested in the four founders. Do you think that the location of the remaining Horcruxes could be related to the founders as well?"

"Right again," responded Rowena. "Perhaps not all Gryffindors are stupid after all. So which of the founders do you think the location of Hufflepuff's cup would have to do with?"

"Hufflepuff?" wrote Harry, seeing it as the only option that made sense.

"That's what I think too. So why haven't you determined what location I'm talking about yet?" asked Ravenclaw.

"What, from _that_?" asked Ron, sounding as frustrated as Harry felt.

"Can we burn the thing _now_?" asked Ginny.

Meanwhile, Harry had shut the journal in disgust. "Looks like that's all we're going to get out of her today," he said despondently.

Hermione, however, was silent.

"What?" asked Ron, noticing the odd look on her face.

"I… I think I might know where she's talking about," said Hermione.

A/N: Okay, so the chapter wasn't spectacular. But I needed to get the plot back on track after the flurry of activity over the past few chapters. I'm always looking for reviews of any kind, whether positive or negative. Especially if you've noticed an inconsistency in what I've written, as I've been trying to correct those as people have pointed them out. Thanks to everyone who's reviewed and helped me to correct flaws, or simply to be more motivated.


	14. Rowena's Revelation

A/N: Yay for reviewers! A couple of quick notes which I hope won't get me in trouble with this whole "no responding to reviews" policy: A few of you commented that Harry was surprisingly quick to forgive Hermione and Ron. I see where you're coming from, and agree that it could also have been written with him getting furious... However, I think Harry's _capable _of understanding where his friends are coming from, and seeing the big picture, in which they had his best interests at heart. Especially because this works a lot better for the purposes of my plot than a prolonged argument would have. Secondly, some of you mentioned that even with the clues Rowena gave, you didn't know where the Horcrux was... Well... you're not supposed to. Read on, and all will be revealed. Note: Thanks to those reviewers who pointed out that I had Bill and Charlie confused. I've switched all the instances I could find where I had used Charlie's name, and hopefully I caught them all. Let me know if you find more.

Chapter 14

Rowena's Revelation

Although Harry was quite shocked when Hermione announced that she knew the location of the next Horcrux, he decided to take the news in stride. Accordingly, instead of shouting "How the hell do you know _everything_?" at her, he simply gawked at her for several consecutive seconds. Ron did the same.

Ginny was the first to recover from the shock, and said, quite conversationally under the circumstances, "Where is it, then?"

"But... no, it doesn't make any sense," said Hermione, apparently oblivious to Ginny's question.

"What doesn't?" said Harry, who was the second to recover from the shock of Hermione's apparent omniscience. Ron was still staring blankly at her, but then, Ron did that a lot, so it may have had nothing to do with the shock of her knowledge.

"It's a tourist attraction!" said Hermione.

"Great. Now she knows too and she won't tell us, either. I _knew _she had too much in common with this Rowena character," said Harry, gesturing at Hermione with the book. Showing that she still apparently had _some _knowledge of her surroundings, even though her concentration was apparently quite elsewhere, she reached out toward the journal.

"Let me see that for a moment, would you Harry?" she asked.

"Not until you tell us what you've figured out," said Ginny, who was apparently also put off by being left out of the loop.

Hermione sighed. "I don't think I'm even right about it, as a matter of fact, but if you _must _know, I think the location is Hufflepuff's Hill"

This woke Ron up from whatever trance he had apparently been under. "But don't you--?" Hermione cut him off, leaving the question unfinished.

"Yes, Ron, I live five miles from it. I even visited there this summer. Dragged my parents along, too. They didn't mind too much though, they just went shopping," said Hermione.

"They _what_?" asked Ginny. "They went shopping at a place called Hufflepuff's Hill? And how does Ron know about this if I don't?"

"Well, that's not what the Muggles call it, of course. And Ron knew because I had mentioned it in a letter I sent him" explained Hermione, impatiently. _Yeah_, Harry reflected shortly, _she's the one who's getting impatient._

"And what _do _the muggles call it?" asked Harry, wondering what the chances were that he had heard the Dursleys talking about it at some point over the previous years. He doubted it though, because normally when the Dursleys talked, he had made it a point not to listen.

"They call it North End Shopping Mall," said Hermione.

"Voldemort hid his Horcrux at a _shopping mall_?" asked Ginny, incredulously. Being wizard-born, of course, Ginny had never technically been to a shopping mall, but she knew enough about them from her 3 previous years of Muggle-studies to know that it was a rather incongruous place for Voldemort to hide a Horcrux.

"That's what I'm trying to figure out, if Harry would give me the journal," countered Hermione.

"I thought you said it was a tourist attraction... You meant it was a shopping center?" asked Harry.

"No, there's a small side operation located at Hufflepuff's Hill which caters to certain historically-minded witches and wizards who want to see the place where Helga Hufflepuff died."

"In a shopping mall?" asked Ginny, smiling at the irony.

"Well, the shopping mall wasn't there when she died!" said Hermione, who seemed to be personally offended by the positioning of the shopping center over a historical landmark.

"I know that!" countered Ginny. "But you've got to admit, it's still pretty funny."

Apparently Hermione had to admit nothing of the sort. There was an awkward silence, during which Harry noticed that Hermione's hand was still extended in an attempt to retrieve the journal from him.

He gave it to her, and she began to search through the pages for the last one that was written on. Now that she had the journal and was about to be able to clear up the confusion with Rowena herself, she seemed in a bit more of a mood to talk. "As you _should _recall from our History of Magic classes-" Hermione paused for a second while Ron and Harry both snorted at the assumption that they should remember _anything_ from History of Magic class, especially something not directly related to the troll-rebellions which seemed to be all Professor Binns was willing to talk about. "-Hufflepuff's Hill, or rather the catacombs beneath the hill, was the site of Hufflepuff's last battle."

"Hufflepuff died in a _catacomb_?" asked Ginny, laughing out loud this time, and registering that that was even more ironic than the fact that the site was now covered with a shopping mall.

"Yes, there was a small-scale wizarding war in the late tenth century, over who the next British Magical King should be (they didn't have ministers back then, it was a hereditary position, but even as such, there was always contestation over who the person with the more legitimate claim to the throne was), and one of the battles occurred in the wizarding catacombs which had been built into this hill. The details of the battle are of course, lost, as it happened so long ago, but there is still a steady trickle of visitors to see the place where one of the greatest withces of all time made her final stand," said Hermione, ending with an oddly reverential-sounding tone of voice.

While neither Ginny, Ron, nor Harry understood why Hermione had come to the conclusion that this was the place the Horcrux was hidden, none could come up with any particular questions to ask to help them understand. Harry reflected that the location made at least _some _sense. With the amount that Voldemort knew about the founders, he no doubt was aware of the place that Helga Hufflepuff had died. And, of course, Voldemort always did have an obsession with death, so this location made more sense than it would have if, say, he had placed the Horcrux at the place where Hufflepuff was said to have been born.

In the silence that followed, Ginny, Harry, and Ron each focused their attention on the chalkboard as Hermione wrote in the journal.

"But why would Voldemort put the Horcrux at Hufflepuff's Hill after he failed to scare the Muggles off?" she wrote.

Harry was about to ask Hermione just _how _Voldemort had failed to scare the muggles off, but was distracted as Rowena responded promptly.

"Well. That was quick. You're cleverer than I had imagined," responded Rowena. Harry was moderately surprised that the journal seemed to have a sense of length of time, but he figured he had more important things to think about at the moment.

Hermione seemed to be torn between being flattered that Rowena had complimented her and frustrated that she would not simply answer her question.

"What do you mean he failed to scare the muggles off?" asked Ginny.

"Well..." said Hermione, apparently reluctant to be torn from her written conversation with Rowena, "Voldemort thought that the muggle presence on the site of one of the wizarding world's most important historical landmarks was insulting, so one of the more horrific muggle-killings he carried out during the last time he was rising to power was an attack on this muggle shopping mall, in the middle of the day. He single-handedly killed about 30 muggles before the Aurors arrived on the scene. The entrance to the wizarding catacombs is located in what the muggles believe is a department store. Voldemort was more concerned with killing muggles on this occasion, so the wizards and witches working in the tourist facility were the ones who notified the Aurors when they noticed a lot of muggles fleeing from the mall. As part of the containment policy, of course, the Aurors modified the memories of the muggle survivors so that they didn't know that they had just been attacked by a wizard. Instead, they thought they were the target of some anti-capitalist terrorist organization or something. There were calls from some that the mall ought to be closed down, which was just what Voldemort wanted. However, muggles can be downright stubborn, especially when their shopping's being interfered with, and so they decided that the best way to get back at the terrorists would be to keep the mall open. Which they did. Of course, Voldemort was angry as anything, but the Minister of Magic made a point to cover the mall with a few aurors, and apparently Voldemort felt that the muggles weren't worth the second attempt at that point, with the added risk. There's always the possibility that Voldemort would have come back and tried again, but that was toward the end of his first reign," said Hermione glancing over at Harry, apparently subconsciously.

"Well... So your point is that it doesn't seem like that would be something that Voldemort would want to commemorate?" asked Harry, trying to understand why Hermione was doubting her own guess as to where the Horcrux was hidden.

"That, and besides which, I told you, I've been in the catacombs myself. I'm not saying I would necessarily have sensed that there was Dark Magic there, but I should have been aware of it, especially if the point of the magic was to keep people away from the Horcrux, which it _would _be," explained Hermione.

"Good point," conceded Harry, remembering the security measures which had protected the previous Horcrux. He reckoned that Hermione would have noticed if there were Inferi running around in the catacombs.

Hermione had not responded to Rowena's compliment, but Rowena had, to Harry's surprise, continued on in her response to actually answer Hermione's question.

"Although he didn't actually get the muggles to leave the mall, this killing was the largest single muggle massacre to its date, and it raised fear among the wizards across the country. If Voldemort was willing to not only blatantly kill so many muggles, but also do it in plain sight, it called into question just how long the muggles could be kept in the dark about the danger. Historically, in cases of Civil War amongst wizards, both sides tacitly agree to honor the usual statutes of wizarding-secrecy. Of course, had Voldemort gained full power like he wanted to, he probably would have abandoned the principals of wizarding secrecy in favor of a world wherein wizards were fully declared and demanded whatever muggles they allowed to survive to serve them. This large-scale attack helped to make this clear. While it didn't scare the muggles as much as Voldemort would have liked, it was a show of power to the magical community. Although there were Aurors posted at the mall from then on, everyone knew that there was no way aurors could protect every place that muggles congregated in large groups, and this attack was anticipated by many to be only the first of several. And they were right, there were a few more large scale attacks like this one in the time following."

Hermione chewed on the quill that she was writing with. "But what about the dark magic that you mentioned? I took a tour of the catacombs during the summer, and I didn't notice anything unusual."

"Well, you wouldn't have," responded Rowena. "The public does not have access to the oldest and most sacred bits of the catacombs, including the actual spot where it is rumored that Hufflepuff died. However, I made a point to get myself quite lost during a public tour, and went far enough into the entrance of the older portion of the cave to detect signs of dark magic before I decided it would be best to put off the search until I was healthier."

"Of course!" said Hermione, who seemed to be amazed at her own error of thought. "It wouldn't have to be the _whole_ catacombs that were covered by the dark magic."

"This actually kind of seems to make sense," said Harry, now coming to the conclusion that Rowena had finally proven herself to be useful for once. His emotions were a combination at triumph at finally having discovered a lead on the next Horcrux and a rising anxiety about the actual task that now lay before them. Luring a snake into a graveyard was one thing, but Harry had the feeling that penetrating the security measures around a stationary Horcrux would be quite another. However, Harry was also feeling a sense of rising adventure. One that he had not believed he'd feel again after Dumbledore had died. Harry felt a twinge of sadness at remembering Dumbledore's death again for what seemed to be the ten thousandth time in the past six months. However, this feeling was countered somewhat by the knowledge that retrieving the next Horcurx, as he was now preparing to do, would be the best possible way to honor his memory.

"Yeah, it _does_ make sense," said Hermione, allowing herself a small smile. "Finally, we've figured something out."

The four sat in triumphant silence for several seconds.

Then, Ron broke the silence. "What do we do now, then?"

"Tell McGonagall?" asked Hermione. Suddenly, Harry's mind flashed back, and he grinned a bit in spite of himself, as he pictured how well those words would have flowed out of the mouth of an 11 year old Hermione. But, in spite of that, Harry figured Hermione was probably right. McGonagall _had _given them the idea for destroying the basilisk, maybe she would have some advice on this. But somehow Harry already anticipated that no matter what help McGonagall could offered, it would have to be he, Ron, and Hermione who actually went in and retrieved the Horcrux.

Within half an hour, Harry found himself leading Hermione, Ron, and Ginny up the now familiar path to the Head's office. Hermione still had the journal, now holding it almost lovingly in contrast to the frustration which each of the teens had felt toward the journal not long before.

Harry had been given the password for the gargoyle guarding the staircase to the head's office, for just situations like this one, so they passed by that landmark unbothered. Once they got to the door to the office, Harry knocked.

"Come in," called McGonagall's voice.

When Harry opened the door, a rather nervous-looking kid who Harry recognized as a third year Gryffindor turned around to look at them from the near-side of McGonagall's desk. Harry remembered that the girl was named Nancy Tarr, and she had almost perfect attendance at the Defense Club. She seemed like a bright kid and Harry rather hoped she wasn't getting in too much trouble.

Luckily for Nancy, the excitedly nervous looks on the four teens' faces communicated quite well that they had some information which McGonagall would like to hear right away. She gave Harry a meaningful look that told him she'd be with them momentarily and then turned quickly back to Nancy. "So, in other words, while Professor Slughorn can't _actually_ expel you for enchanting his robes to say 'Slytherins are gits' in the middle of a Potions' class, you would do well to show your professors a greater level of respect in the future, especially as he _would _be well within his rights to take points off of Gryffindor for any infraction of this type. And, as you may know, although I am headmistress now, I still have a bit of a soft-spot for my old house." She paused. When Nancy made no move to leave, she said, "You're excused, then."

As Nancy passed them, she smiled gratefully at their good timing. Although Hermione did not return the smile (probably thinking the prank childish), Harry, Ginny, and Ron grinned back at the girl, each being forcibly reminded of antics of this type that had been pulled by Fred and George a couple of years before.

As they approached McGonagall's desk, Ron said in an undertone to Harry (Harry briefly wondered whether he was trying to keep this comment from Hermione, McGonagall, or both), "Think if we write to Fred and George telling them what kind of stuff she's been up to, they'd give her discounted merchandise?"

Harry nodded, suppressing a grin. It was nice to know that even with Voldemort threatening to rise again, there were still pranksters and purveyors to provide them with the goods they needed to get the job done.

"So, what is it?" asked McGonagall with audible concern in her voice.

"Well, we finally got the journal to tell us something," explained Harry. "You might as well read it for yourself." Hermione handed her the journal.

McGonagall began to read their latest conversation with the journal. At one point, she looked up and gave Hermione an appreciative nod. "I'm not sure I would have figured that one out myself," she admitted. Hermione beamed as McGonagall continued reading to herself.

"So, you think that's the right place?" asked Harry, when McGonagall was done reading.

"I think it's worth looking into, at the very least. I don't think we can send you in right away. It would have been one thing for Rowena to get herself lost on a tour, but, Harry, it might be more difficult for you to go missing on a tour without someone expecting that you're up to something. And, obviously, we want to keep this secret if at all possible. I think we should send a scout from the Order to the cave, one who's a bit less recognizable, to get close to where Hufflepuff died to see if they can tell what kind of magic's being used to guard the area." She shifted her gaze to Ron, then Ginny. "I think your brother Bill might be just the wizard to do it. I knew it'd come in handy to have a curse-breaker within the Order. He might not be able to break the curses straight-away, considering that they must be very strong if they were put there by Voldemort, but he could at the very least tell us what we're up against. Here, let me write out a letter, and if you would then be so kind as to take it to the owlery for me?" McGonagall began to write.

Hermione looked concerned. "Are you sure it's good to send Order information by Owl Post?" she asked timidly. For all of Hermione's growth in the past few years, Harry noticed that she was still a bit too intimidated by authority.

In this particular situation, however, the authority seemed to have the situation under control. "Not usually, but all this letter says is that I want to meet with Bill Weasley. For all anybody intercepting this would know, we could be asking him to be our new Quidditch coach."

So, the four took the letter to the owlery. Then, it seemed, they would have to return to their civilian lives until they received any more word about what they would be up against in the catacombs.

The next couple of weeks passed rather slowly for Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny. Each time they entered the Great Hall, they looked expectantly at McGonagall, hoping that they would be asked to her office to talk about the Horcrux. As December rolled around, Harry started to get antsy, and was going to ask McGonagall whether they knew anything more than before, when two rather interesting developments about the Horcrux surfaced in the same day.

When Ginny, Harry, Ron, and Hermione entered the Great Hall on Monday morning, McGonagall greeted them with a quick invitation to her office. "Come by my office at 3:00 this afternoon. None of you have classes then, right?" she asked.

None of them did, so they began to speculate on the way back to the table about what exactly they'd find out at the meeting.

"So do you think that she'll have us go soon?" asked Ron, with a look of nervous anticipation.

"Probably," said Hermione thoughtfully.

"Sooner makes just as much sense as later, right?" Ginny asked. Harry was starting to get nervous because Ginny had started to talk like perhaps she thought she too would be going on this next expedition. That was, of course, not the way it would go, for all the reasons Harry had already outlined to Ginny, but he didn't feel like having this discussion with her again anytime soon. He was rather hoping that there would be no confrontation about it this time, but he figured that he could still put off talking to her about it for at least a little while longer.

"Oooh, do you think that Bill might be there to tell us what he found out in person?" asked Ginny excitedly. She didn't get to see her older brother often enough, in her opinion, as he was usually in Egypt.

They were just contemplating this possibility when the post came. Hermione, of course, was still getting the Daily Prophet, considering that it was still quite important to keep up with the news in the wizarding world.

Just how important became quite apparent that very morning. Within about a minute of scanning headlines after paying the delivery-owl, Hermione gasped and pointed at a story. Ron, who was sitting beside Hermione, looked at it. Harry and Ginny, on the other hand, had to lean across the table to read the headline upside down, as Hermione was too enthralled in the article to pass the paper around. The headline read "Hufflepuff's Hill to be closed for renovations."

"What kind of renovations could Hufflepuff's Hill need?" asked Harry, who was trying to figure out just why ancient catacombs would need to be renovated.

"I really don't think it would," said Hermione, looking up from the article after a few more seconds of scanning it. "And the article's no help. It only says that it's going to be closed to the public between December 29th and January 3rd. Of course, I've got a _theory _for why it might have been closed."

"You have, have you?" asked Ron, who had a sinking suspicion of his own.

Harry looked up at the faculty table, where McGonagall appeared to be reading the same article with a look of great concern.

"You think they're onto us?" asked Harry.

"That's what I'm thinking," said Hermione, nodding.

"There's probably a death-eater with some clout on the board running the site, and they were able to pass through this call for renovations that can't possibly need to be done. That way a bunch of death-eaters could go in there unnoticed and move the Horcrux," reckoned Harry.

"Okay. I can understand why they'd want to be away from prying eyes of wizards taking tours, but why couldn't they just go at night?" asked Ron.

"Well, first off, it's usually open 24 hours a day. You get your odd historically-minded wizard who wants to come in and take a private tour at 2 in the morning. Besides, for all we know, maybe whatever curses are guarding the cave will make the whole set of catacombs inaccessible once they're set off," Hermione explaining.

Harry pondered for a moment whether he was more concerned with what kind of curses there might be that would render the entire catacomb inaccessible or with the question of why in the world Hermione would know that the catacomb was open 24 hours a day. However, there seemed little point in worrying about either of these questions too much at the moment.

"So. If they're onto us, is that it, then? Are we back to square one, or do you think there's still a chance of going to get it before the Death-eaters have a chance to move it?" asked Ron.

"No," said Harry, "this isn't the time to retreat. This tells us, if nothing else, that the Horcrux will be there until December 29th. That's plenty of time to prepare to go in, and it's certainly not going to get any easier to take the thing once they move it."

"But do you think McGonagall will still let us go?" asked Hermione. "It could be more dangerous now, they could be watching the place, or there could be Death-eaters guarding the it."

"First of all, if they're watching the place, we've still got the invisibility cloak. If they're guarding it, they'd have to deal like the curses just like we would. And the fact that they're moving the thing makes it sound to me like they can't really stay in there too long with the security measures. And even if they could, I don't think that a couple of death-eaters guarding the Horcrux is really anything to worry about, considering the other security measures that will no doubt be in place. It's not as if Voldemort himself would risk going out there to protect his Horcrux. And I'm sure that McGonagall will understand that. This needs to be done. And it's really not up to her anyway. I'm going to go with or without her blessing. And you two are free to come or not come as you choose," said Harry. He made a quick check of Ginny's reaction when he said this. She seemed to be about to open her mouth, but then thought better of it. Unfortunately, he was beginning to think this wouldn't be the last he would hear on the topic.

"Yes, of course, if you're going I'll come," said Hermione, while Ron nodded his agreement.

"Thanks," said Harry, who was beginning to feel the familiar anxious weight that descended on him every time he remembered how much his friends seemed to rely on him to make decisions for them. He hated that he always seemed to be responsible for so much more than just himself. His friends, the Defense Club – even the entire wizarding world, depending on who he listened to. It was just too much to think about at that point. "Do you think we could talk about something else for awhile?" asked Harry.

His friends obliged, and he tried to keep his mind off of the Horcrux until the meeting with McGonagall. Granted, there were a total of maybe five minutes all day when he was able to fully concentrate on anything else, but Harry had gotten quite used to dealing with stress of this type, so he reckoned no one except for Hermione, Ginny, and Ron even guessed anything was wrong.

When they arrived at McGonagall's office that afternoon, they found both Bill and McGonagall there to greet them. Ginny rushed over to hug her brother. Hermione hugged him as well, and each Ron and Harry gave him a dignified sort of hand-shake.

McGonagall said, "Bill, if I could just ask you to step outside for a moment, I need to have a quick word with these four."

Once they had all settled in to their seats, McGonagall spoke briskly. "Mr. Weasley will tell you what he was able to find out shortly. First, though, we need to discuss the Horcrux itself, which I judged it best not to actually tell him about. He just knew he was checking the cave for curses, he doesn't know what they're guarding. I trust you've all seen this morning's _Prophet_?"

"Yes," Harry answered, as the rest nodded.

"Well," said McGonagall, "I would suggest that you wait until the night of December 28th to go in. You could go in under the invisibility cloak. You could go in along with the last tour, then if there were to be any effects to the rest of the cave from you setting off the security measures, no one would be there to notice them." She looked at Harry appraisingly to see his reaction to the plan.

"Er, yeah. What kind of security measures are we talking here?" asked Harry.

"Well, as you know, you can't be quite sure what to expect until you get in there. But Bill's reconnaissance mission turned up a bit about the curses. I think we can invite him in now," said McGonagall.

When asked to explain the curses, Bill surveyed the four teens in front of him. "I don't know how you lot manage to get yourself mixed up in this kind of stuff all the time. But Professor McGonagall tells me you need to get in there. Won't tell me _why_, of course, but I suppose I can't expect to be allowed to know everything. What I do know, however, is that whatever you're trying to get at, somebody doesn't want you to see. I'm guessing, of course, that this person is You-Know-Who. There's 3 curses that I was able to detect, and I can't guarantee that there weren't more. But from the nature of these curses, which is pretty mild, I'm suspecting there's something a bit more solid than a curse waiting for you further down the catacomb."

"What are we up against, then?" asked Hermione. The tone of her voice suggested that aside from the tactical need to know exactly how Voldemort was going to try to kill them, she was just plain curious for academic reasons.

"Well, these are quite curious little enchantments. Except for the first one. It's a standard anti-apparition spell. The only odd thing is that it covers the whole catacombs. Not many people would know about this, since only a few people know the catacombs well enough to apparate there. And apparently those who do know about it don't find it worth mentioning. Next one is meant to keep out an undue number of intruders. It only allows a certain number of people through, then a wall appears that's solid from one direction. That is, those who'd already entered could get out, but no one else could get in. It looks like the limit on this curse if fairly low, I'd say maybe 3 people are allowed to get through. This curse is usually used when a person is guarding something that they personally want to be able to get to, but are looking to make sure that an army doesn't come in to occupy the area. It was an especially popular curse used on old castles for noble wizarding families back during the middle ages. The other curse is a fear inducer. Doesn't really _do_ anything to you, except on a psychological level, but it'll put you to the edge of panic. In order to overcome that kind of fear, a person would either have to be a fairly good occlumens, or be really confident that there was nothing to be afraid of."

There was a bit of silence in the room. "Yes, well, I assume that you lot may need to be alone now again to talk a bit of strategy. I'll just go down to Hagrid's hut. Haven't gotten to talk to him for awhile. You lot can come and join us for tea once you're done talking if you like," said Bill.

"Sure," said Ginny.

"Yeah, see you in a bit," agreed Ron, as Harry and Hermione nodded agreement.

Once Bill left the room, McGonagall looked at them. "All right, then. Well, Harry, I had already assumed that it would only be you, Hermione, and Ron who were going to attempt to find the Horcrux anyway. However, I can post some Order members around the area that night, just to make sure there's no large movements of Death-Eaters into the area who might attempt to block your exit. They seem to know someone's been tampering with the Horcruxes, and they may well have closed the place partially to give you an opportunity to go in and retrieve it, with the intent of being there to block your exit once you've finished. We'll be there to make sure that won't happen."

They stayed for a few minutes to talk strategy, in which time it was agreed that Ron and Hermione would start going through occlumency lessons to help prevent the fear from the curse from overtaking them in the cave. As the four of them walked down the corridor away from the Head's office a few minutes later, Harry realized there were just under four weeks until he would be attempting to find another Horcrux. If nothing else, he was now confident that this year's Christmas break would not be boring.

A/N: So, obviously, you weren't going to come up with Hufflepuff's Hill from the books. But, I think this way, I avoided making it a chiche, and hopefully made it more interesting. If you've got a moment to review, I'd love to hear what you think. Also, since I've been on spring break this week, I've already managed to write a rough draft of the next chapter. I was going to hold onto it and wait for a week or so to post it, 'cause once I'm back at school, it'll be tough to find much time to work on subsequent chapters. However, if I get 25 reviews for this chapter (which I don't really expect to) I will proofread and upload the next chapter a.s.a.p. (If you'd rather I wait for the next chapter, don't let that stop you from reviewing, just suggest that I wait in the review).


	15. Christmas Break

A/N: Okay, I'm sorry that took so long to post. Even though I had it written before I returned from spring break a couple weeks ago, I've been really busy since. As I don't see that ceasing to be true before finals, this chapter will probably be the last one for about a month. I'm really sorry that it had to end in a cliff-hanger, but, it got fairly long as it was, so… Anyway, I hope you enjoy it.

Chapter 15:

Christmas Break

December seemed to pass by rather quickly for Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione. In what seemed like no time, it was December 22, the last day of classes before the beginning of the Christmas Holiday. That evening, after the final class before break was finished, the common room was in a jovial mood. While the other kids talked about going to visit relatives or ski in various European locales, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny talked in hushed tones about the far more stressful holiday in store for them.

"We just finished up our last lesson with Shacklebolt," said Hermione quietly. As had become their habit, they were talking about things that no one else was allowed to know about by making sure that they didn't say enough so that anyone would know what was going on if they didn't already know what they were talking about.

"How'd you do?" asked Harry.

"He said we learned pretty quickly. We're not great at it yet, but he thinks we should be up to snuff for what we're planning to do. Or at any rate, we should be able to counter _most _of the effects," said Ron. He sounded a bit nervous, as if not sure that countering most of the effects of the fear-curse would be good enough.

"I'm sure you'll be fine," said Ginny reassuringly. "You've got plenty of time to practice over break, right?"

"Maybe not _plenty_," said Ron. "But yeah."

"Plus, you're a Gryffindor," said Harry. "What's a bit of fear?"

"Yeah, I guess you're right," said Ron. It seemed like they had said all they could about this topic without saying something that shouldn't be overheard. "Anyway, you lot fancy a game of Exploding Snap?"

"Sure," said Ginny with a grin. She was glad for the distraction. She was just as worried as the other three about the upcoming task. She knew she couldn't go with Harry, Ron, and Hermione into the catacombs. She further knew that she wouldn't have been going even if there hadn't been the person-limiting curse to contend with. Neither Harry nor Ron would have been able to function properly with her there anyway. Their minds would have been clouded by the thought of having to protect her. She wanted quite badly to prove that she didn't _have_ to be protected, but she knew that now wasn't the proper time for it. Besides, it was perfectly natural that they would have been worried about her. She was certainly worried about them. She knew that the moments between when Ron, Harry, and Hermione descended into the catacombs and that moment when they came back out would be some of the tensest she would ever have to endure. She would much rather be down there with them to know what was going on. But her task was to stay out of danger. And no matter how hard that would be for her, if that's what Harry needed from her, she'd do her best to oblige.

On a lighter note, the game of exploding snap went quite well. Hermione ended up getting her eye-brows singed in a way that the four of them found to be quite amusing.

Hermione was about to pull her wand out to draw her wand to perform a quick healing-spell on her eyebrows to put them back in order.

"That's really no fair," said Ron. "No performing healing spells until we're done with all the rounds."

"No healing spells, eh? Too bad I'm not an Metamorphmagus like Tonks, I could just fix them that way," she pointed out.

"Yeah, too bad," said Ron, preparing to begin the next round.

"It'll be nice to see Tonks again," said Ginny.

"Yeah, I'll be glad to see everyone too," said Harry. The next day, the four of them were going to Number 12 Grimmauld Place. Mrs. Weasley had suggested that since things were so hectic nowadays, and since everyone in the order was so busy carrying out assignments for the order and traveling to and back from Headquarters all the time, it might just be easiest if everyone spent the days surrounding the Christmas Holiday there.

Tonks and Lupin would be staying, as would all the Weasleys, and the Grangers, as well as the Shacklebolts and Mad-eye Moody. And, Harry remembered with a start, Draco and Narcissa Malfoy.

"Oh, man. I just remembered that the--," Harry caught himself, remembering that no one really ought to overhear that, considering that the way the Malfoys had been safe to come to the Order headquarters as prisoners of war was that McGonagall had faked the deaths of Draco and Narcissa. Thus, Harry decided that he would speak in code. "—that the blond-haired gits are going to be there, too!" said Harry, figuring that there were _plenty_ of blonde-haired gits he could be referring to.

"You've remembered that 3 other times this week as well, you know," Ginny reminded him brightly.

"I know, but it's just as unpleasant of a surprise each time I remember," Harry contended.

"I sure wouldn't want him living in _my _house," Ron agreed. Oddly, though, Harry realized that he still didn't quite consider Grimmauld Place _his _home. He supposed that would change once he finished school and started living there full time, but for now, it still seemed like the house of his dead godfather. But he tried not to think of it like that.

"Well," said Hermione consolingly, "I'm sure he'll stay away from you. He can't want to see you anymore than you want to see him. Probably he wants to see you even less. He owes you now."

"True," said Harry, realizing that the conversation was starting to get dangerously close to one that shouldn't be held in public. "Let's talk about something else, though." So, instead they turned their conversation to what kind of new Weasley-Wizard-Wheezes prototypes Fred and George might give out of as Christmas presents. Of course, Ron and Ginny came up with the most outlandish ideas of what new products the twins might be developing, showing once again that it wasn't for nothing that they were related to them.

The next day was a good one, as the four teens rode the train back to King's Cross (purely to keep Ginny company, as she was the only one who could not apparate yet) to meet Mr. and Mrs. Granger, along with Lupin and Tonks who were there to take them back to Grimmauld Place. Hugs and hand-shakes were quickly exchanged all around before the group split into two smaller ones to be driven to Grimmauld Place by ministry drivers. Or, at any rate, to be driven to the street one block away from Grimmauld Place, as McGonagall had reminded them that there was no reason that the Ministry needed to know _exactly_ where they were staying.

After a short drive and a short, though chilly, walk, they reached Headquarters. When they opened the door, they were met by a beaming house-elf.

While they were all caught a bit off guard by this development, Hermione was the first to recover. "Hello, Dobby, it's nice to see you," she said.

Dobby managed to widen his already impressive smile, and said, "Headmistress McGonagall has given Dobby some time off to help Harry Potter and his friends with their Christmas Feast."

"Thanks, Dobby," said Harry, still amazed at the kind of activity that this elf thought of as "time off."

"It is Dobby's pleasure, sir," said Dobby, as he followed the four up to their rooms as they levitated their trunks behind them. Behind Dobby, Harry could see Kreacher skulking and making threatening faces at Dobby.

"You know, you may want to consider giving Kreacher a direct order to not kill Dobby in his sleep," opined Ron.

Luckily, however, Dobby made it through the night. Christmas Eve was a busy day, as everyone had much catching up to do with one another, and there were many preparations to be made for Christmas day.

At one point that day, Harry made a quick tour of the house just to register what everyone was up to. In the kitchen, Fleur Delacour- Fleur Weasley, now, as Harry reminded himself- was doing her best to help Mrs. Weasley cook the meal, and Mrs. Weasley was doing her best to avoid snapping at her. No matter how much Mrs. Weasley wanted to keep herself reconciled with the newest addition to her family, Fleur had an odd tendency to annoy her mother-in-law. In the dining room, Mrs. Shacklebolt was busy trying to teach her young son how to recognize his letters, which seemed to be a bit of a tall order for him at the moment. In the room adjoining the kitchen, Shacklebolt, Lupin, Tonks, Charlie, and Bill were having an in depth conversation about Order matters. Harry noted with some satisfaction that they did not feel the need to stop their conversation when Harry entered the room. Of course, it made sense that he would be allowed to participate in Order conversations now, as he was quite as involved in the well-being of the wizarding world as any of the other members of the world. And besides, he was of age now. Still, it was a nice change from a couple years ago.

Once Harry had been there for about a minute, Shacklebolt looked up at him and said, "Harry, I don't know if anyone's mentioned it, but we're going to have an Order meeting in the Dining Room after dinner tonight. Ron and Hermione can come as well. And Ginny too, unless anyone can stop her." Ron would be irritated about that, as Mrs. Weasley seemed to be a little bit more lax with Ginny as far as allowing her to find out stuff about the Order than she had been with Ron at the same age. Harry could see why that might be the case, considering that Mrs. Weasley had spent so much time fighting with Ron, Ginny, and the twins to keep them safe over the past few years. It seemed she was now choosing her battles and had decided that since she probably wouldn't be able to keep Harry, Ron, and Hermione from telling Ginny things anyway, she might as well just try to keep her from actively participating in battles more than absolutely necessary. That, or she was just exhausted.

"I'll be sure to let them know," said Harry with a grin, as he made his way out of the room.

He made his way to the next room, where Mr. Weasley was having tea with Mr. and Mrs. Granger and talking with them about ATMs. It was clear that Mr. Weasley was having a hard time getting his head around the concept, and it was equally obvious that the Grangers had never taken the time to actually _think _about ATMs. Harry grinned a bit as he made his way back up the hallway. He got to the stairs, and climbed back up them.

As he passed the first two doors on the second level, he noted that that was where the Malfoys were staying. He quickened his step a bit past those doors, making doubly sure that he wouldn't run into them. Of course, it was unlikely that he'd have run into them even if he had stood outside their doors for ten minutes, as they seemed to be keeping in their own rooms as much as possible. Harry had only seen Malfoy once since he'd been back, when Harry was heading to breakfast that morning and Malfoy was making his way to the bathroom. As they walked toward each other, each seemed to take an oddly profound interest in the wall to each of their right sides, so that they wouldn't have to look at each other.

After passing by the Malfoys' rooms, Harry was back to the room where Ron was staying, which was the room that Ginny, Hermione, Ron, Fred, and George were using to congregate. Of course, he had been in there, too, up until a couple minutes ago, but he had started to feel antsy, which was what had inspired him to take the above-described journey throughout the house. He was feeling antsy a lot lately, and he figured it was from the nerves surrounding his upcoming trip into the catacombs. Oddly, though, it wasn't as if Harry was scared for his life. That is, he well understood that he was risking his life, but that wasn't the kind of anxiety he was feeling. It felt more like the nerves he had commonly experienced during Quidditch games, except that in that case, the nerves didn't seem to get to quite this level until about a day or two before the match. He had been feeling nervous about this for almost an entire week already.

"The chosen one returns!" announced Fred in a booming voice as Harry walked into the room.

"The stupid one gets a pillow throne at him!" responded Harry as he reached down, picked up a pillow, and chucked it at Fred to prove his point.

Of course, Fred reached up and deflected the pillow, causing it to hit Ron square in the chest. "Hah!" yelled George, "still got the old Quidditch skills, don't you?"

From that point, the conversation took a quick detour into Quidditch. They passed through several more conversation topics before dinner time rolled around, but at one point Harry managed to get in a word about the meeting that was after dinner, which Fred and George would also naturally be attending.

The meeting was a bit less exciting than Harry had hoped it would be, and he learned very little that he didn't know. Most of the news was bad news. No new word on where Snape might be hiding, although some letters had been intercepted that made it sound like, wherever he was, Wormtail was probably there too. Of course, that was helpful to the extent of not at all, as was the announcement that Lupin made revealing that Fenrir Greyback had not been seen by any of Lupin's more trusted werewolf contacts lately. Harry was starting to think that it might be more frustrating being _in_ the meetings than listening in on them. At least when he was only getting eavesdropped rumors from the meetings, he could console himself with the thought that maybe there was real progress being made during the parts of the conversations that he couldn't hear. Now that he was in the meetings, he knew how bad the situation really was. He was frustrated that no one seemed to be making any progress. Of course, that was the problem with fighting an enemy that was content to hide at all times other than those when they were making attacks on muggles or innocents.

The major topic of discussion during that evening was the surveillance project on Hufflepuff's Hill later on that week. However, no one made a direct statement of what exactly they were supposed to be watching for. Harry, Ginny, Ron, Hermione, McGonagall, and Bill were the only ones who knew at that point that the trio was going into the catacombs in a few days. The only information that the rest of the Order got was that McGonagall had "reason to believe" that the death-eaters had something to do with the closing of the catacombs and that they might be up to something. It seemed that most of the Order members had not even heard that the catacombs were going to be renovated until it was brought up at the meeting. It seemed that very few wizards or witches were particularly interested in the times of the founders, and were more interested in their own times. And no one beside those who had known about Voldemort's Horcruxes were keeping an eye out for suspicious behavior around Hufflepuff's Hill, so it made sense that no one else would have noticed the story.

Knowing information that no one else did turned out not to be quite as exciting and fun as Harry had once thought it might be, but McGonagall and the teens agreed that it would be best to not tell the rest of the order any more than was necessary, because they still didn't want to spread any information that might be spread, accidentally or even through torture, into the wrong hands. Besides, they had all agreed that there was no reason to worry Mrs. Weasley about the fact that her son was going into danger. If all went well, then she would never have to know. And if all did not go well… no one wanted to think about that.

That evening, while everyone else was talking around the fire-place, Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione sat in Ron's room talking about the upcoming adventure. At one point, Hermione asked Harry to attempt to read their minds with the training that Shacklebolt had given him earlier that year in Legilimancy.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" asked Harry awkwardly. "Why don't we get Shacklebolt to do it?"

"Shacklebolt's on his vacation. I wouldn't feel right bothering him about this," said Hermione. "Besides which, it's not like I've got any secrets to keep from you. You know just about everything there is to know about me. Besides. I don't think you'll get past my Occlumency."

With the challenge having been issued, Harry agreed. For the next half hour, Harry attempted to read Hermione and Ron's minds. Hermione was quite good, and Harry only managed to get through her defenses 2 out of 7 times, and then only with difficulty. He figured she would be all right with the curse. Ron, on the other hand, he was a bit more concerned about. He was able to get through Ron's defenses 5 out of 7 times. Still, he figured that Ron was still probably better at Occlumency than Harry had been after almost a year of lessons with Snape.

It had actually turned out to be somewhat amusing to practice legilimancy on Hermione and Ron. Each of his breakthroughs into Ron's mind had turned up a different memory about Bill or Charlie, or a particularly funny (and apparently psychologically scarring) prank by Fred and George. There had also been a couple memories of Hermione's childhood that Harry gained access to. These snapshots had inspired a conversation about the childhoods of Ron, Hermione, and Ginny. Of course, Harry's childhood didn't provide too many topics for conversation, at least not topics appropriate for Christmas Eve, although he was able to tell a couple stories about how his burgeoning magic skills had accidentally caused Dudley quite a bit of frustration. The conversation went on well into the night, until each of them went back to their respective bedrooms.

The next day, Christmas, was quite pleasant. Harry had gotten Ginny a necklace which he had needed to order via an ad in the Daily Prophet because there had been no Hogsmeade weekends that year due to the ever-present threat from Voldemort and his henchmen. It consisted of a gold chain and had a small gem on the end which was semi-transparent but was enchanted to have what appeared to be tiny different-colored clouds swirling around inside of it. Harry was quite glad to see that she seemed to be pleased with it, as he had never been very confident in his taste in jewelry.

Because of how much Hermione liked to read, Ron had gotten her a Wizarding reading light, which was a small glass orb that lit up when tapped and was able to levitate a few inches a few inches over the book that was being read. Furthermore, the little orb was engraved with the words "For Hermione, the brightest girl I know, from Ron, who loves that about her." Hermione seemed to like it, even though both Harry and Ginny thought that the pun was a bit much, to the extent that they exchanged a quick grin and eye-roll when Hermione read it aloud.

Hermione had gotten Ron a box of sweets as well as a humorous book in which a wizard made fun of divination. A picture of a mostly empty tea-cup with dregs on the bottom on the cover, and the title was "Divination Leaves me Laughing." Ron gave a slight chuckle at the name. "You think you'll like it?"

"I always did find divination a bit more humorous than Trelawney would have preferred. You're really adamant on getting me to read more, though, aren't you?" said Ron.

Ginny had gotten Harry a box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, as well as a little quidditch action figure which flew around on its own. "I know you're a bit old for action figures," she said. "But I figured since you never had any magical toys (or many toys at all considering the Dursleys) when you were a kid, it'd be a shame if you never had one." Harry smiled at her, thinking that that was a sweet, if slightly peculiar, sentiment.

Dinner was good, too, and afterward, Fred and George turned off all the lights and set off some of their new indoor-safe fire-works.

The day after Christmas, everyone had gone back to their own houses, and Harry went home with the Weasleys, as he didn't much feel like spending the rest of a break in a house with just Kreacher, Malfoy, and his mother.

The next few days passed rather quickly, until it was, much to Harry's surprise, 7:00 on December 28, 4 hours before Harry and Ron were to meet Hermione in front of the Burrow so that they could apparate side-along with Hermione to Hufflepuff's Hill, since she was the only one who had ever been there before and hence the only one who would be able to picture it properly to apparate.

When 7:00 rolled around, Ron, Harry, and Ginny were all sitting and talking on Ginny's bed. After glancing at his watch, Harry remarked "Four hours," in a rather off-hand voice.

Ron seemed a bit startled. "Oi! That soon? Look… I'm a bit nervous. I think I'm going to go to my room and practice some of that mind-clearing stuff that Shacklebolt taught us for Occlumency."

"You'll be fine, Ron," Harry reassured.

"Yeah, but a little extra practice can't hurt," Ron pointed out, as he made his way toward the door. "Just keep this door open, all right? I don't want to have to think about what you two might be doing in here while I'm trying to clear my mind."

"First of all, you shouldn't be thinking about it in the first place," said Ginny, laughing. "But don't worry. I'm not going to take advantage of your friend. Besides, I'm not that kind of girl. There'll be plenty of time for _that_ after we're married."

Ron had kept walking during her little diatribe, and so was up the stairs before Harry responded. Harry thought the sentiment Ginny had expressed was quite nice, and the fact that she was, as she had said, "not _that_ kind of girl" was one of the things that he liked about her. However, that didn't mean he wasn't going to mess with her about it.

He backed up from her on the bed and said, in a voice as horrified as he could muster, "We're getting _married_?"

Ginny, to Harry's surprise, actually bought the act. Her eyes widened and her face reddened. "What? No, I just meant in _theory_! I didn't mean to-"

Harry couldn't hold back his laughter, and once he broke out laughing, she stopped talking. "I'm sorry," he said, once he recovered himself. "I was just joking with you. I thought it was sweet."

Ginny, having recovered herself pretty well, was quickly ready to spar verbally. "That's good. Although I'm not sure that I _want _to marry you anymore, if you can't take me seriously." She paused, then looked at how far Harry was sitting from her. "You know, it'd _probably _be all right if we laid down. I'm really _not _going to take advantage of you."

So Ginny and Harry laid down, each on their sides, facing each other. Ginny's bed was comfortably small, and so their faces were rather close. Harry noticed that Ginny's cheeks were still a bit flushed from when he had embarrassed her, and he noted that the look suited her very nicely. In a moment, they were kissing, although neither Harry nor Ginny were quite sure who had initiated. They continued to kiss for a little while, then stopped and simply held each other.

"We really _should _do that more often, you know," said Harry.

Ginny smiled. "You get that Horcrux like you're supposed to, and tomorrow, we can snog all you want."

"That's a good idea," said Harry.

They were silent for a bit. "You nervous?" asked Ginny.

"About the snogging?" asked Harry with a grin. "No. Why? Should I be? I thought I handled it pretty well tonight."

Ginny giggled. "No, you were great. What I _meant_ was, you know… The Horcrux."

"Oh, right… _That_. Well. I haven't been thinking about it too much, lately, you know. More concerned with the snogging."

"Maybe you should stop saying that word," said Ginny. "It's starting to sound weird."

"It's _always _sounded weird," contended Harry. "But… Yeah, I guess I'm a little bit nervous."

Ginny responded with mock-surprise. She figured that she was _probably _supposed to assume the role of the comforting girlfriend in this scenario, but she figured she still owed him for embarrassing her earlier. "What? _The _Harry Potter? The Chosen One? Afraid to go after a Horcrux?"

Harry grinned. "Not _afraid_, really. I mean. I've been through worse, right?" Then, feeling the conversation was becoming a bit dark, he grinned and said, "Besides, I'll probably even get out of their alive, right?"

Ginny grinned at the joke that wasn't really a joke. Then returned with a light-hearted but meaning-filled response of her own. "You'd better, too. We need you out here. You _are _the Chosen One after all. The only one who can kill Voldemort. It'd be downright selfish of you to die before you've done your job."

Harry laughed. "I'll do my best," he said. Ginny had said, albeit in a joking tone, what Harry knew everyone was thinking about him. But Ginny was not only one of the few people who would say it to him without tiptoeing around it, she could also say it and make it sound not so bad. And that, Harry thought, was one of the many reasons why he loved her. Once Harry thought that, he was slightly surprised. He wasn't quite sure when his feelings for Ginny had turned into something he would describe as _love_. But the term seemed to fit.

Ginny noticed that Harry was thinking deep thoughts, and figured she'd let him get on with it. She was content just holding him for awhile, trying not to think about the fact that in less than four hours, he'd have to go out and take the next step in his death-defying plan to save the world. After a short time, he closed his eyes, and Ginny hoped he'd be able to sleep. She had noticed slight bags under his eyes earlier that day, and she had the feeling that he had been too nervous about his upcoming adventure to sleep as much as he should during the nights.

Soon, Harry's breathing became even, and Ginny knew he was asleep. She knew that she wouldn't be able to sleep until he was back safe in his own bed after he found the Horcrux. But she didn't mind that too much. She was content to watch him sleep and contemplate how shocked and pleased she would have been when she was younger to find out that someday, Harry Potter would be asleep in her arms. And thinking back to that younger version of herself, she realized that the butterflies that had flown into her stomach every time she had looked at him in those days were not 'love,' as she had once thought. That was a crush. However, the warmth that she now felt inside her, the warmth that seemed to perfectly compliment the warmth of Harry's body close to hers, _that_ was love. She thought about that for a while, and that led to thoughts of a day, which she hoped would be not too far off, when she and Harry would share a bed every night. To her surprise, she drifted in and out of a light sleep, so that her day-dreams mixed with night-dreams in which she imagined herself raising a family with Harry at Number 12 Grimmauld place.

After a couple hours, Ginny checked her watch. It was almost ten, and she wanted to talk to Harry again before he left. Further, she figured that, as much as she felt he needed his sleep, it would be no good for him to show up to Hufflepuff's Hill to deal with whatever Voldemort had prepared for them after having only just woken up. She hated to wake him any earlier than necessary, but after a little bit of a debate with herself, she moved her face closer to his and woke him with a soft kiss.

Being kissed is perhaps the most pleasant way to be woken up (beats an alarm clock, at any rate) and Harry's journey back to consciousness was a pleasant one. After Ginny's lips left his, he opened his eyes slowly to see Ginny's light brown ones looking back at him. They were silent for a moment, and everything just seemed so perfect that it took Harry almost a full minute to remember that there was even such a thing Horcruxes, or Voldemort, or the Dark Arts. For that minute, it seemed that the only thing in the world that mattered was that Ginny should stay as close to Harry as possible. And when Harry _did _remember the existence of Horcruxes and of Voldemort, his first coherent thought about either of them was that when he got to the point of using the Pathei Emou spell that Dumbledore had told him about through the Pensieve, this would be the memory that he should use.

"I love you, Ginny," stated Harry.

"I love you, too," said Ginny. They looked at each other for several seconds in silence again. Then Ginny smiled, and said, "But, down to business. The _moment _you are safely out of that catacombs and have given the Horcrux to McGonagall, you need to come to this room and tell me everything that happened."

"Yes, ma'am," said Harry, with a grin.

"Good. Now. Let's go check on Ron and make sure he hasn't meditated himself into oblivion."

They found Ron pacing around his room. "Geez, Ron, you look like an expecting father waiting outside the delivery-room. The curse can't be any worse than the pressure you're putting on yourself, you know," said Harry.

"No, I'm not worried about that. I did the mind clearing thing, all right. Actually managed to doze off for a little bit as a result. I'm just nervous about what else might be in the tunnel after we deal with the curse."

"It can't be much worse than what you guys faced in your first year," said Ginny consolingly.

"Yeah, but then we didn't have to think about it beforehand," said Ron, shaking his head.

"All right… wracking our nerves about this can't possibly help. Let's do up our beds to make it look like we're in them, and sneak out a bit early and fly around on our brooms a bit. I know it's cold, but it'll probably help take our minds off this," suggested Ginny.

"Good idea," said Ron, who hadn't flown in what he considered to be entirely too long. Ginny rushed off to her room to fix up her bed, and then met Harry and Ron back in Ron's room. They knew they couldn't pass by the living-room, where Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were still awake, to use the front door. Thus, Ron and Harry apparated out to the shed in the Weasleys' back yard while Ginny was forced to sneak out of the house the old fashioned way. Namely, opening Ron's window wide, pressing herself against Harry's broom, and flying out the window, using her wand to close the window behind her.

After Ginny had returned Harry's broom, and Ron and Ginny retrieved brooms from the shed, the three flew around for almost an hour, making sure to stay far enough in the air that they would not be spotted by Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. Harry had always found flying to be therapeutic, and tonight was no exception. His anxieties were much lessened when he was in the air, and in what seemed like no time, he spotted Hermione appear on the ground near the Burrow.

"Right, then," said Harry, flying close to Ron and pointing down to show that Hermione had arrived. "Let's get this over with."

After Ginny had bade the trio good-bye, received a healthy kiss from Harry, and snuck back in through the window on Harry's broom-stick, Harry, Ron, and Hermione apparated to the area in front of Hufflepuff's Hill, where they found McGonagall waiting for them.

"You have your cloak?" asked McGonagall.

Harry retrieved it from his pocket. "The three of you still fit under that thing?" asked McGonagall.

"If we stay close, yeah," said Harry.

"Good, then," said McGonagall. "Now. It's 11:10 now, and the last tour will leave in five minutes. You follow them for about 15 minutes, until you reach the point in the tour when the guide says, 'Heavy fighting took place in this corridor for several hours.' At that point, the entrance to the portion of the catacombs that you want to enter will be to your left. You wait there until midnight, then go down the tunnel to your left. Members of the Order will be arriving here shortly, so you'd probably better put that invisibility cloak and go over there with the tour group."

Harry, Ron, and Hermione followed the instruction, and by 11:30 they had stopped following the tour group and had come to a stop in front of the entrance to the tunnel down which they knew the Horcrux lie. Things were tense for the half hour during which they waited for midnight to roll around.

When it did, the trio started down the tunnel, and things only got tenser, as the effects of the fear-curse started to come into play. Each of them did their best to block this emotion from their minds using their training in occlumency. Ron, as had been expected, had the hardest time doing this.

But he was, after all, a Gryffindor, and although he felt a good bit of fear, he kept putting one foot in front of the other. While he was almost terrified at first, it's hard to be terrified for too long at a shot, so his fear decreased a bit with every passing step. That was lucky, because as Bill had anticipated, things were about to get a bit scarier.

A/N: Whoo, that may very well be my longest chapter yet. Here's hoping that it didn't get too boring to read. I thought there were a few interesting parts at any rate. Regarding the romance, I hope I pulled it off effectively and that it didn't come off as overly cheesy. The romance was, in fact, necessary to the plot, as I think was pretty well implied. Still, I think it might have gotten a _little _bit out of hand, although I am, on the balance, fairly pleased with how it turned out. Please let me know what you thought. Reviews are _much _appreciated.


	16. Hufflepuff's Goblet

A/N: Okay, once again, sorry for the ridiculous wait. However, I am now officially on my summer break from college. Even though I do intend to get a job very soon, and also to keep up with my studies to some degree over the summer, I really think I will average at least a chapter a week from here until the story is completed (probably somewhere around chapter 30, although I've changed the plans for the rest of the story just enough that I'm not quite sure anymore.) Oh, and I owe some creative debt to Goofy-Peach, who pointed out that perhaps someone should get hurt in this chapter, which, curiously enough, had not necessarily been my original plan… I rather like how it turned out though, and I hope that you will, too. Oh, also, if you like logic puzzles, there's one in this chapter. If you want to solve it without hearing anything that the characters say about it, solve it before scrolling past it. It _is _solvable. Oh, and… depending on how many typos/logic errors there are in this chapter, I may benefit from a new beta, if anybody's interested, as my previous one had to stop due to being too busy. Now, sorry for the long author's note, and enjoy!w

Chapter 16

Hufflepuff's Goblet

"This isn't so bad, so far," Hermione dared to say once they had taken about fifty steps into the catacombs. Not to say it wasn't creepy. Although the path the tour had taken had been lit by torches, this section of the catacombs was not lit at all, and so the only light came from their wands.

"Let's not get overconfident, though," Harry cautioned.

"I don't think I've got to worry about that," assured Ron, who was still having a hard time keeping his dinner down from nerves. He kept trying to rid his mind of the fear, but it simply wasn't working as well as he'd hoped. He kept focusing on putting one foot in front of the other.

The trio didn't even notice that the passage was narrowing until they started having trouble making it at three across. Soon, it became clear that it would only be possible to proceed in a single file.

Harry attempted to step out in front of Ron, who had been walking even with Harry, while Hermione had allowed them to go ahead when the passage had gotten too narrow for all three of them to fit.

"No," objected Ron. "I'll go. The best way to face fear is to pretend you haven't got it."

That was an odd theory, in Harry's opinion, but he decided he didn't have too much time to argue. Besides, it wasn't as if he could think of any concrete reason that he should be the one to go out in front. Whatever awaited them down the tunnel, Harry figured Ron would probably be about as capable to face it as he would be.

Ron, on the other hand, was glad that Harry didn't argue. Ron figured that since, strategically speaking, Harry was more necessary for their cause than Ron himself, he would have to expose himself to danger first. Even _if _he was the one suffering most from the fear-curse.

However, after a few seconds, Ron started to gain a bit of confidence. Nothing bad seemed to be happening so far. Ron even began to consider the possibility that maybe they had been wrong about this being where the Horcrux was hidden. But then, Ron heard a light scuttling in the tunnel ahead of him. Ron raised his lit wand higher to try to see farther on in the cave. He had a sinking suspicion of what that scuttling sound might be. He had heard one way too much like it during second year, in the Forbidden Forest.

And it turned out that he was right. As he stood there frozen with his wand raised, not just one, but five 3 foot tall spiders were coming toward them, some on the floor, others clinging to the walls of the cave, their tops reaching to the opposite wall.

"Bloody Hell!" said Ron in a hoarse whisper. His grip weakened on his wand, and it fell to the ground.

Oh no, Harry thought. Of all the things that could have been in the cave, why did it have to be spiders, the one thing that would render Ron completely unable to help? "All right, Ron, _duck_!" commanded Harry.

Ron, ashamed and terrified, now completely helpless because his wand had rolled five feet down the tunnel and was now under the closest of the approaching spiders, obligingly crouched down.

Harry sent a petrifying spell at the first of the spiders then decided that it would be easier to aim if he were closer to the spiders. He quickly pocketed his wand, put his hands on the walls of the passage, and vaulted over Ron. He pulled his wand back out, and aimed his wand at the next of the approaching spiders, and began to pronounce the petrifying spell again.

But suddenly, the spider wasn't there anymore. With a popping sound, it had turned into a Dementor.

Harry did not even need to use the "Ridikkulus" spell before he burst out into laughter at the boggarts, causing them to stop in their tracks, and eventually, once Ron and Hermione burst out into relieved laughter as well, to disappear. The three were amazed that now, when going up against the best defenses Voldemort could put up against them, they were still able to use things that Lupin had taught them back in third year.

After the boggarts had been taken care of, Ron looked ashamedly at Harry. "Sorry I froze like that, mate."

"It's all right," said Harry. "We've all got our phobias. If they had been dementors at first, I'd probably have frozen, too, especially with the fear-curse to augment the emotion." Harry tossed him his wand. Then, just to show he still had confidence in Ron's abilities, he said, "You still want to go out in front?"

"Sure," said Ron, who was eager to prove himself after his embarrassing freezing episode. Harry began to wonder how the boggarts had been kept in this section of the catacombs for almost two decades, but soon, they found a series of 5 open coffins, which Harry reckoned had been kept closed for the boggarts to stay in until the teens had entered the catacombs. After Ron shone his wand-light toward them to make sure there was nothing still hiding inside, they stepped over them.

Unfortunately for Ron's pride, however, the passageway opened up into a wider one before anything else was able to get in their way. In fact, a few more yards after the coffins, the passageway opened into a substantial cavern which had seven more passageways leading off of it other than the one that they had just come in from.

"Wow. This is a lot bigger than I'd have thought," said Harry.

Hermione, meanwhile, flicked her wand and left a glowing mark on top of the tunnel they had just left, so they'd know which way to choose on their way back out. Then, they went further into the cavern to a small table in the center. On the table was engraved a short poem.

Hermione was the first to reach the table, and she began to read what it said.

"There are seven tunnels to choose from here,

Watch them now as their numbers appear,"

At this point in the poem, Harry looked up at the tunnels around the cavern, and he saw as the numbers one through seven appeared in glowing Roman Numerals above the tunnels.

"All right, step one, complete," joked Ron, still trying to mask his apprehension, this time by an admittedly less than witty joke.

Hermione continued.

"The path behind you as now been blocked,

If you leave and return, it will be unlocked."

Harry, Ron, and Hermione looked apprehensively to the tunnel behind them as a door materialized in the space, and a lock clicked ominously. "So, we have to go forward first, and we can get out on our way back?" asked Ron.

"I think so," said Harry.

Hermione kept reading.

"One of these tunnels will lead you ahead,

But pick the wrong one and you'll end up dead,

One path is good but pick one number higher,

And you will end up burning in a blazing fire.

There is a number that leads to quicksand,

This number is half that which leads to your demand

An odd number will lead you to die in chains

The number three lower, is death quick, without pains.

One number will lead you to be eaten by ants,

The number one higher will impale you with a lance

And if you don't pick a tunnel in minutes five,

You'll never make it out of this cavern alive."

"Five minutes from _now_, or when you started the poem?" asked Ron.

"How should I know?" asked Hermione.

"Does it _really _matter?" asked Harry, "why don't we just figure it out as quick as we can?"

Hermione breathed deeply. "Right, ok, let's think about this." She read over the poem again in her head a few times. Harry and Ron each looked at it as well, but none of it was making much sense to them.

After what seemed like about a minute, Hermione said, "All right, either of you got a piece of paper?"

"Yeah, I always bring parchment to catacombs," said Ron, who apparently got sarcastic when he got panicky.

Hermione looked frustrated and panicked for a second. Harry knew that he was never much good at riddles, and was having a hard time focusing on anything but the impending possibility of doom. He was frustrated and felt helpless. He would have preferred to face Voldemort there in that cavernous opening than this riddle. He couldn't have a duel with a riddle. Ron was starting to panic as well. He was not good at riddles either, and he was coming out continually worse in the battle to keep enough of the fear out of his mind to be able to focus on anything else.

"Come on, Hermione!" said Ron. "You can do this. Please, please, be able to do this!"

"Fine, then I'm going to have to ask you guys to help me remember some stuff, so pay attention. We know that the 'death by chains' option is odd and 3 above some other number. Thus, it needs to be either 5 or 7."

"Okay, that I can do," said Ron. "Chains, 5 or 7." He began muttering it to himself so he wouldn't forget.

"Okay, now also remember that 2 or 4 must be painless," advised Hermione.

Ron obliged.

"Now, Harry. The 'good' number has got to be double the quicksand. So, the quicksand must be 1, 2, or 3, and good must be 2, 4, or 6."

"Okay," said Harry, and began to repeat that to himself.

"Okay… that seems to be the most I can figure out without actually guessing anything. So, let's assume for the moment that 5 is chains, which means that 2 is painless. But, Ron, keep remembering that the other options are 2 and 4, in case this is wrong. Now, Harry, 1, 2, or 3 must be quicksand, right?"

"Yeah," said Harry, feeling just about useless, but hoping Hermione had the situation under control. She was certainly thinking much more rationally than he was.

"Okay, but if 2 is painless, then it must be 1 or 3. So, let's assume that it's 1. But if quicksand is 1, double that is 2, which means that 'good' is 2. But 2 is a painless death. Which, although more pleasant than the other options discussed, is not actually 'good.' So… If 5 is chains then 3 must be quicksand which means that 6 must be good. And…" Hermione consulted the poem. "Fire must be one higher. So, fire's 7. Fine… now, what numbers do we have left?"

Harry, who had been listening intently in case such a question was asked, answered "One and four."

Hermione concentrated, thought about it, and said, "Yeah, you're right. But that can't work, because ants and lance have to be two in a row."

Ron swore. "So we haven't made any progress, and it's been at least 2 minutes!"

"No, calm down, Ron," said Hermione. "We _have_ made progress. We know that 5 can't be chains which means that it's—" she paused to think about it.

"Seven," said Ron.

"Right. Okay," she consulted the poem, "So 4 must be painless."

"Which means that 'good' must be 2 or 6," Harry piped in, using process of elimination.

"Good. So, let's assume it's 2. That means half, quicksand, is 1. And fire is 3. Which leaves five and six free. And that works!" She scanned the poem again, found there were no contradictory clues, and hopped up and down excitedly on one foot. "Okay, but let's make sure. What if good is 6? Does that work?"

Harry, who was catching on to the facts of the game, said, "No, 7 would have to be fire, but 7's already chains."

"Yes, okay. I think we've got it!" said Hermione.

Harry and Hermione began toward the door marked "II."

"Wait a second," said Ron. "Let me go first. If nothing happens to me, then you two can come." Harry was vital to the cause, and in Ron's opinion, Hermione had just proven that she was more strategically important than Ron, who, as Ron reminded himself, had just been rendered wandless by what turned out to be a boggart. It seemed to Ron, if only for just that moment, that the most useful thing he could do for the cause would be to be sort of a human booby-trap tester.

Harry knew Ron would have died for their cause, but was equally sure that he wouldn't be able to live with himself knowing that he had sent Ron to his death. Besides, it was a non-issue, because Hermione's logic had to be right.

Hermione, however was never quite 100 confident in her riddle-solving skills, especially in the oddly common case that someone's life depended on them, and said, "No, if anyone should check, it should be me, 'cause I'm the one who would have gotten the riddle wrong."

"But I didn't get it right, either," argued Ron, "and neither of us would be able to figure out which one was right without you."

"We haven't got time for this, it must have been almost five minutes already," said Harry, as he made off at a dash for the door marked II. Ron and Hermione, without thinking, dashed to keep up with him. As they crossed the threshold, each took a breath and held it. About seven or eight running steps later, they realized they were safe, and took an almost collective sigh of relief. At that same moment, they heard an explosion behind them in the open cavern.

"That must have been what would have killed us, then," said Ron, with a laugh. He was, for the moment, back in high spirits, having just avoided death. It would be almost three seconds before his mind registered once more that it was quite possible that he was still walking toward his death.

"Wow," said Harry. "That was a close-shave, then. Wands ready," he advised, getting his into the correct position as well.

"Did that remind anyone else of first year a bit too much?" asked Hermione. "You know, Snape's riddle with the potions when we were going after the philosopher's stone?"

"Oh, wow, you're right," said Harry. "It's almost like Voldemort's setting up a test for us, just like Dumbledore and the professors did." He paused. "You know, Voldemort and Dumbledore certainly do think oddly alike." Then, Harry thought, with a pang of hurt, Dumbledore _used_ to think a lot like Voldemort does. Harry wondered whether he would ever get quite used to the idea that Dumbledore was dead.

"We can think about that later, though, mate," suggested Ron. "Let's keep to the task at hand for now."

They continued to step forward down the tunnel, all too lost in their own thoughts of fate, fear, and bravery to talk to each other. Harry was just beginning to wonder what Voldemort's next test for them might be when he heard an ominous hissing sound. As the lights from their three wands strained further down the tunnel, Harry began to make out the forms of several— he didn't quite have time to count them – snakes on the ground.

For one wild moment, Harry wondered whether they might be boggarts again. But, he knew immediately that he was wrong. None of the three of them were afraid of snakes. Although, come to think of it, in such close quarters, they _were_ rather intimidating.

The snakes were advancing quickly enough that the three of them probably would not have been able to get away even if they had turned tail and run. The fact that Harry was a parsel-tongue had temporarily escaped everyone's mind, as such important facts tend to during moments of crisis.

Ron, thinking of nothing but making up for his reaction to the spiders moments ago, actually took two steps toward the snakes, although Hermione and Harry had stopped, to make sure that he was the first and easiest target for the snakes. But, he was going to do his best to make sure that none got to him. He managed to petrify two before one bit him in the leg. The pain seared in his calf, and began to spread throughout his leg. He reckoned that there must be some kind of venom, probably of the magical variety, in the snake's fangs, as he had gotten enough cuts in his day to know that the pain from a normal cut wouldn't be spreading throughout his leg and creeping toward his torso. He nearly fell, but clutched at the wall. There were at least six more snakes that he could count, and he reckoned that if he was bitten by one or two more, he would die. This bite might finish him, matter of fact.

Luckily, none of the other snakes got to him. He heard a hissing sound behind him and for a terrible moment thought that the snakes had surrounded them and that he had not been able to save Hermione and Harry from the snakes after all. But, as the pain crept through his midriff and toward his heart, Ron registered that Harry was hissing.

"Oh yes," thought Ron, dazed, as the pain moved ever nearer to his heart, "Harry's one of those parsel-tongues." As the snakes, at Harry's command, slithered silently into small holes in the walls of the caves, Ron went unconscious.

Hermione was shocked. "Is he dead?" she croaked, tears already threatening to fall from her eyes.

Harry had already knelt down beside Ron and had found a pulse. "No. But I don't know how much longer he's got. You've got to take him back out."

"But-" said Hermione. "What if you need my help further on?" Ron might already be dying, Hermione couldn't let Harry die too.

"Ron needs your help _now_," said Harry, resolutely.

"He wouldn't want me to take him if it meant risking not finding the horcrux. If we don't get it tonight, the death-eaters will, and then… Then how will we ever beat Voldemort?" asked Hermione, desperately.

"I know Ron would rather die than the mission fail. But that's not even good logic. And the mission won't fail. I can handle it myself, and I'll do better if I know Ron's on his way to safety."

"But-" Hermione sputtered again.

"Hermione," said Harry, in the coldest voice he could muster. "I could perform the Imperio curse on you if I needed to." Harry was bluffing, at least partially. He had never learned the Imperio curse, but understood that it was much like the Legilimens curse. And Hermione wouldn't be sure that he was bluffing. At the very least, it'd force her to recognize how serious he was. Ron would almost definitely die if he didn't get help soon, and Harry couldn't let that happen if there was anything he could do to stop it.

"No, you couldn't," Hermione contended.

"Yes. It's like the Legilimens curse, except that once I'm in your mind, instead of reading it, I plant an idea in it. Just like I did with the snake in October." He hadn't been entirely sure that the imperio curse was really anything like the curse he had used to lure the horcrux snake, but even in the semi-darkness of wand-light, he could tell from Hermione's eyes that he wasn't far off.

"But, Harry-" she stammered, "that's an Unforgivable curse."

"I know it is," said Harry, "which is why I'd rather not have to use it on you."

Hermione looked from Harry to Ron's motionless body. "Fine," she said, and began to levitate Ron's body toward her. Hermione seemed extremely offended by Harry's threat to use an Unforgivable curse on her. Harry knew that it was a low move, and was beginning to wonder whether he wasn't getting more like a death-eater all the time. For a moment it looked like she might leave him without saying anythin. But, as Harry swallowed hard and turned to move on, she said, "Harry, good luck. And, if it comes to a choice between trying to get the Horcrux and saving your neck, please, _please_, get out. I know it doesn't seem like it right now, but we can find the Horcrux again. You, we can't replace. Think of what it'd do to me, to Ginny, to the Weasleys. Please, Harry, come out of this alive."

Harry had been doing his best to think about _anything _but what his own death might mean for his friends, and for the Wizarding world. His head was pounding. He was furious that Hermione seemed to be trying to weaken his resolve. But, he understood where Hermione was coming from. It was one thing for a person to be brave, it was a completely different thing to watch someone else be brave. As he took another step, he was glad that he was seldom the one watching. He turned his head back over his shoulder and said, "I'll come out alive, and I'll bring the Horcrux. Don't worry about me, worry about yourself and Ron. Get back to the entrance as quickly as you can."

Neither of them could think of anything else to say, and so they parted ways. As Harry walked forward, listening to Hermione's steps retreat down the cave, he wondered what could possibly be next.

Then, an eerie thought occurred to him. The fear-curse and the Boggart seemed like the perfect tribute to Gryffindor, since getting past those measures would have been easiest for someone with Gryffindor's bravery. The snakes were obviously a tribute to Slytherin. And the riddle could be a testament to Ravenclaw's intellect. For a second, Harry wondered what the tribute to Hufflepuff would be, but then remembered that he was in her catacomb, looking for her most sacred relic. And then, it occurred to him that he couldn't think of a difficult task to go along with Hufflepuff, about whom the fact most often heard was that she was a hard and honest worker. And then, Harry realized that Voldemort also wouldn't have thought of a challenge to go with Hufflepuff. Knowing what he had learned about Voldemort during his previous year, Harry reckoned that Voldemort would have a special contempt for Hufflepuff, the most ordinary of the founders, since Voldemort wanted himself to be thought of anything but ordinary. And then, Harry wondered whether Voldemort might actually be mocking Hufflepuff in the selection of the tasks. Harry almost laughed out loud at the twisted logic of it. For a split second, he wondered whether that might not mean that he had no more tests waiting between himself and the Horcrux.

Even as he thought this, however, the cave opened up to show what may well have been Voldemort's most twisted test yet.

The cavern was not as wide as the one which contained the riddle, but it was wide enough to accommodate a large glowing semi-transparent sphere, three feet across, about 20 feet above the floor of the cavern. Hovering in the center of the sphere was Hufflepuff's goblet, clearly visible.

On the wall beside the entrance to the cavern was a broom to which was attached a piece of parchment. Harry read the note, his heartbeat quickening.

_Dear Enemy of the Greatest Dark Lord,_

_If you are reading this note, it must be because you do not yet know how to retrieve the Goblet from the sphere. Perhaps that is because I, Lord Voldemort, do not want you to retrieve it. Or else, it is simply because I feel that you deserve to be in immense pain. Were this not the case, I would have come here myself, or else at least given you a vial of my blood, as the easiest way to retrieve this Horcrux is to smear some of my blood on the wall above the Broom. I have made quite certain that the curse is otherwise unbreakable, although you are quite free to spend all the time you'd like trying. No matter, the curse surrounding the goblet will do what is intended to. It will cause whoever encounters it to feel immense pain, and will also begin to eat away at the victim's flesh so that if he does not receive help soon enough, he will die. Of course, if the person reading this note is one of my Death-Eaters, he will continue, knowing that I have sent him here because he has fallen into my disfavor and that the punishment which will await him if he returns empty-handed from this cavern will be much worse than death. But, if he is an enemy of mine, he will instead consider the following offer, and I am sure he will make the rational choice, as, after-all, this same enemy must have made it past the riddle I put together in the cavern, showing that he has the cold logic of Rowena Ravenclaw. The offer is this: If, instead of facing unendurable pain and almost certain death, you choose to pocket this note, you can present it to me at any time in return for being considered my most favored servant. As such, you will be rewarded beyond imagination, with as many galleons as you desire, and the unquestioned protection of your family and closest friends. You are a worthy adversary, for having made it this far, and I know that you will not give up such an excellent opportunity. Of course, you will not be able to deceive me. Once the curse has been touched, this note will disintegrate. _

_I know you will make the proper choice, _

_Your Lord,_

_Voldemort._

Reading the last lines nearly made Harry vomit. _Knows I'll make the right choice, does he_? Thought Harry defiantly as he mounted the broom. Then he must know I'll go for the goblet.

But as much as he hated Voldemort at that moment, he realized that this curse was much like the Mirror of Erised, in its own way. Never understanding the concept of self-sacrifice, Voldemort would reckon that no one would accept pain and possible death unless they were forced to by a worse fate. This curse, like the Mirror of Erised, was designed to test the motives of the seeker. Voldemort had even offered protection for Harry's closest friends. But Harry knew that none of his friends would want to be protected if Voldemort ever gained power; that's part of the reason they were his friends. And, after-all, Voldemort had already killed his family, so it was too late to play that card, even though Harry knew that he would not have been too tempted even if his family were alive.

As he pressed his feet off from the ground and felt the broom lift off, he couldn't help but hear Hermione's voice pleading with him to save himself. He knew she wouldn't want him to pocket the note, not really. But he still hoped, for her and everyone else's sake as much as his own, that he would not die from the effects of this curse.

Then, Ron's voice popped into his head, talking about strategy. Harry realized that if Ron were here, he would tell Harry that if someone had to die for this Horcrux, it ought not to be the "Chosen One." Even if the prophecy was wrong and Harry wasn't the only one who could defeat Voldemort, Ron might explain, Harry was still priceless as a leader and a symbol for the opposition to Voldemort to congregate around.

But still, Harry flew nearer to the translucent sphere. He couldn't send someone else to die in his place. Too many people-- Cedric Diggory, Sirius Black, his parents, now maybe even Ron, had died when he was the target. He wondered who might be sent in his place. Perhaps, if McGonagall would go by Ron's chess-player logic, it would be Lupin. After all, the announcements he was bringing back from the werewolves were becoming increasingly useless. Harry knew he would not be of much strategic use to anyone if he had to watch one more person die for him.

So, he reached out to grab the goblet from the center of the sphere, with his left hand, keeping in mind the "flesh-eating" bit in the note. His hand burnt with pain before even touching the goblet, and the pain traveled throughout his entire arm as he touched it. He shoved the goblet into a pocket of his robes. The pain spread through his chest, and he hoped he would stay conscious because that would be the only way that he would ever make it out of the cave alive. He wondered whether McGonagall would know the counter-curse to whatever it was that was now eating away at his flesh.

He steered the broom toward the tunnel and was relieved to find that he still fit. For the next several seconds, he could think of nothing but staying conscious for just a few more minutes, as another effect of the curse, not mentioned by Voldemort's letter, was, once his whole body had started to hurt, to make his consciousness seem fuzzy. The broom was, fortunately, a rather fast one, and he saw Ron and Hermione up ahead after only about a minute. He looked at his hand and noticed that, although it was not bleeding, his finger-tips seemed to have dissolved. He shoved the wounded hand in his pocket to hide it from Hermione.

"Get on," Harry commanded Hermione, trying his best not to let on how much pain he was in. He failed, and Hermione's look was one of mingled sympathy and terror as she sat on the broom in front of Harry, still holding Ron.

"I'm having a bit of trouble concentrating," said Harry, doing his best to keep up his characteristic understatement in spite of the pain, "so I was rather hoping you would steer."

Hermione did, and within minutes, the three teens on the broom were nearly at the entrance of the tunnel. Harry's pain had begun to ebb away, but he was afraid that consciousness would not be far behind. He fought as hard as he could to retain consciousness so that he could make sure he would not lose his grip on Hermione and fall off the broom.

As the entrance of the cave came into view, Harry dimly registered shouts. He thought desperately that there had better not be a battle going on outside the cave, since he was in absolutely no shape to participate in one.

A/N: Well. I seem to be completely morally opposed to not ending a chapter on a cliff-hanger, but, oh well. As always, thanks to those of you who have read, and even more thanks to those of you who are about to review. Remember, if you would, that it takes a whole lot less effort for you to write a review than it does for me to write a chapter. So, if you like what you see (or even if you don't, 'cause constructive criticism's good too) then please drop me a review. Remember: More reviews equals more motivation for me, equals less wait between updates for you.


	17. Battle for the Hill

A/N: Thanks to those who reviewed chapter 16. I've just created a forum, which you can get to through my profile (click on the link that says 'my forums' toward the top of the page) to reply individually to all reviewers, starting with those who reviewed for chapter 16. I must admit, I'm not quite clear on how one goes about moderating a forum, so if anyone reading this actually knows, I'd appreciate enlightenment. Anyway, as I recall, I left you all with a cliff-hanger during the previous chapter, so, I suppose I might as well get on with it. Also, quick thanks to Wolf's scream, who pointed out a logical error, which I have since, I believe, modified into greater believability. This is why I really ought to have a beta. Still looking for volunteers.

Chapter 17

Battle for the Hill

While Harry, Hermione, and Ron were still reading the riddle, McGonagall, back above ground, was already nervously checking her watch. It was 12:10. It would be ridiculous to expect them back that early, but she was still nervous.

If any of them got hurt or… worse… down there, it would be her fault. She was their headmaster and the leader of the Order of the Phoenix. It was so much pressure, she couldn't understand how one person was supposed to handle it. If possible, she had gained more respect for Dumbledore after having spent several months filling in for him in his two major positions.

She couldn't help but think that she wasn't yet quite up to snuff for the jobs. But neither was anyone else, so she would have to do. And it wasn't as if she was leading a bunch of incompetent wizards, either. She believed in them, and they believed in her.

But that didn't mean she wouldn't make mistakes.

Still, she was almost certain that sending Potter, Weasley, and Granger down into the catacombs was the right choice. Some might say that she could have gone down there herself, but she hadn't been searching for a Horcrux before. Potter had. Perhaps she could have gone with him, but that would have changed how he operated down there. Having her, his headmaster, down there might have led him into a false sense of security, with him expecting her to have all of the answers. And she didn't. So, he'd actually probably be safer down there with Ron and Hermione than with her. And Albus certainly trusted Harry. He trusted him when he was 11 with an invisibility cloak. He _must _have known that he'd use it for rule-breaking. But McGonagall couldn't help but think that he also knew that Harry would end up embroiled in tricky situations wherein he needed to use the cloak to help the school and his friends.

McGonagall knew that if Dumbledore knew he wouldn't be able to hunt for the last Horcruxes, he'd want Harry, Ron, and Hermione to do it. The letter Dumbledore had left her had told her to help them hunt for the Horcruxes, but had instructed her to stay back. She was carrying out Dumbledore's wishes.

That was why she had organized this little guard station outside the catacombs. Five people had volunteered, without knowing what was inside the catacombs, why the death-eaters might try to take it, or why they weren't allowed to know. Shacklebolt, Tonks, and Lupin had each volunteered. They volunteered pretty much for everything. Then, there were the Weasley twins. They, she thought, had probably volunteered so that they would be taken as serious members of the Order. They had been allowed to attend meetings for several months now, but were very rarely sent on assignments.

It was odd for McGonagall to take them seriously as comrades in arms. Actually, it was hard for her to take them seriously at all, as whenever she looked at them, she still saw the trouble-making twins who had disrupted her classes. She probably wouldn't have consented to them volunteering had she thought this mission would be a hard one. She reckoned that Voldemort would only send a few death-eaters to retrieve the Horcrux, since he wouldn't trust very many with his secret. So, six Order members should, she thought, be quite enough to deal with however many death-eaters Voldemort would send. The real danger, she thought guiltily, was down in the catacombs.

She sighed. She'd feel a lot better when the three teenagers were back out of the catacombs. How long had they been down there, anyway? She checked her watch. 12:11. One minute since the last time she checked. Merlin, this was going to be a long night.

She heard a popping sound in the distance. Well. At least a quick battle should take her mind off whatever might be going on down in the catacombs.

She looked around at the other volunteers. They had heard it to, and they had each tensed for battle. Then again, she thought, "tensed" might be a bit too strong of a word, as the twins, from what she could see of them in the moonlit dark, were actually grinning.

There were three more pops in quick succession. Then two more. Then another. Damn. They were outnumbered. Two more. Damn. The twins weren't grinning anymore.

The six Order members listened. There were no more pops. Nine to six. That was probably doable. Not a cake-walk. But doable.

Now if only they would show themselves.

The twins, now that they had adjusted themselves mentally to the new situation, were both grinning again.

They certainly could recover themselves quickly, McGonagall thought.

"Too scared to show yourselves, are you?" shouted Fred. Apparently he was also anxious to begin the battle. Still, it seemed like bad style to taunt the enemy before a confrontation. She considered shushing him but then decided that it wasn't as if they were trying to hide themselves anyway. And she had already reevaluated the situation, and figured that if there were nine death-eaters, their goal must not have been to get the Horcrux in the first place. Voldemort must have considered that the Order might have occupied the site before his death-eaters got there. This contingent would no doubt be meant to clear out the area. Perhaps those meant to actually remove the Horcrux would come a few minutes behind, or would come after the first nine told them that the coast was clear.

However, it seemed that the death-eaters were still not ready to show themselves, as there was no response to Fred's taunt. It seemed that perhaps Fred was correct and the death-eaters were in no hurry to give up the advantage of being unseen in the darkness.

So, they'd just have to get rid of the darkness.

"Tonks, Shacklebolt, let's perform the Luminessa spell to even the odds a bit here," suggested McGonagall.

The three of them each pointed their wands toward the same spot in the air about 60 yards in front of them.

"Luminessa!" each of them shouted. The spot where each of their three wands was pointed suddenly shone with a great light, about twice the brightness of a full-moon. The spell would last for about half an hour.

"Well, that was a sexy spell," commended George.

It was effective too. It lit up enough of the field in front of the shopping mall that the Order Members were able to see a clump of 9 Death Eaters standing about 150 meters away from them. That wasn't close enough to guarantee an accurate shot, but it didn't seem like the Death-eaters were quite anxious to get closer.

"You-Know-Who must not be sending his A-team," reckoned Fred.

Or, McGonagall decided, they might just be stalling to see if someone would come up from the catacombs. Instead of sending them to retrieve the Horcrux themselves, Voldemort might have simply instructed them to guard the cave to see if anyone came out with a goblet and then to take it from them. It would be in the Order's best interest, of course, not to let this happen.

"If they're not going to come any closer, we're going to have to get closer ourselves," said McGonagall.

Lupin nodded grimly, Shacklebolt rubbed his hands together. Fred looked for a moment like he might question _why_ that was the proper strategy, but then he got a bit of a grin on his face, the kind that George recognized from his years at Hogwarts. It was the same expression Fred got before Quidditch games. George felt his lips curl, and realized that he probably had the very same grin on his own face. It was time to duel some death-eaters.

"Let's rush 'em!" agreed George.

"Hell yeah!" posited Tonks.

"All right, here's the plan," explained McGonagall. "We all start rushing them. Logically, I'll lag behind… I'm not quite as young as I once was. Lupin, I want you to hang back with me a bit. We jog behind the four others, and once they're in firing range and start firing on the death-eaters, we apparate behind them. That way, we'll have them partially surrounded. Now… Don't you lot get overly confident, but don't be too nervous either. We've got two aurors, a former as well as a current Hogwarts professor, and… er… the Weasley twins."

"Let's go!" shouted Fred.

George was reminded so forcefully of a pre-Quidditch pep-talk session that he had an idea. "Wait a second… Why don't George and I apparate back to our flat, grab our broomsticks, come back, and then we could give you lot a bit of air-support?" he suggested.

McGonagall hesitated. If muggles saw a couple of wizards flying around on broomsticks, that'd be rather inconvenient… Then again, the area was fairly deserted, and besides which, a battle, which looked inevitable at this point, had just about as much chance of being noticed as a couple of broomsticks. Besides, she remembered with a start, she had already performed the Luminessa spell, so if any muggles were close enough to see brooms, they'd be close enough to see light. Memories would probably have to modified either way. Still, it was necessary. McGonagall just hoped that she, Tonks, Lupin, and Shacklebolt would be able to contain any damage on their own. She didn't want the Ministry getting involved in this. She was pretty sure that Scrimgeour was still realistic enough to know that if he tried to arrest her, it'd put a big strain on his political position. Then again, it hadn't taken long for Fudge to get overconfident enough to challenge Dumbledore… But, having the twins on brooms would certainly help their odds in the battle… Perhaps distract the death-eaters enough that no one on their side would be wounded or killed.

"Sure, go for it," instructed McGonagall.

The twins disapparated with a pop. "All right, let's get going awhile," instructed McGonagall.

The four of them started running, Lupin and McGonagall running a bit behind. The death-eaters stayed put, holding their wands outstretched, ready to fire once they got into range. A couple had turned around and were looking behind them, presumably assuming that the twins had gone behind them. By the time Shacklebolt and Tonks had come within about 50 meters from the death-eaters, however, they had all turned around to look at them. Tonks and Shacklebolt stopped, hoping that they'd have superior aim at this rather long distance.

McGonagall and Lupin stopped too, about 30 meters behind, and concentrated to get ready to apparate. Once they stopped, they were temporarily distracted by the Weasley twins shouting as they flew over them. Luckily, the death-eaters were rather distracted by this development as well, so that Lupin and Tonks got off the first shots of the battle, successfully petrifying two of the death-eaters. Just like that, the odds were seven to six rather than nine to six. Of course, if the death-eaters got a spare moment to perform a couple of finite incantatems, the odds could be tipped again rather quickly, but they would do their best to make sure there wouldn't _be _a free moment.

Lupin and McGonagall finally executed their plan to apparate to the area behind the death-eaters. Half of the death-eaters were looking up at the twins and the other half were doing their best to take aim at Tonks and Shacklebolt, so none had even noticed when McGonagall and Lupin disappeared. When they turned up behind them, then, they were able to get a pair of well-placed petrifying spells at their back before anyone noticed that they had gotten there. Now, of course, being a Gryffindor, McGonagall normally wouldn't have gone for a battle-tactic so un-chivalrous as aiming at someone's back. But then, it wasn't as if the death-eaters were known for their chivalry. Besides, now the odds were officially in their favor, with 6 order members to 5 Death-Eaters.

George and Fred, now flying circles 30 feet above the death-eaters, were going fast enough that the death-eaters who had decided to aim for them were unable to land any of their curses. The boys, of course, had practiced Quidditch enough that they were steady enough on a broom to be able to aim a wand. After all, the pair had mastered throwing a bludger from a moving broom and hitting an opposing player also on another broom. Aiming a spell at a non-moving target was a snap.

Thus, each of the twins was able to pick off one of the death-eaters in short order. Once the odds had turned to three to six, McGonagall halfway expected the remaining death-eaters to up and apparate out of there. However, apparently once the death-eaters noticed that the spells being used against them were geared toward disabling and not death, they decided that being captured in battle would be better than facing Voldemort after participating in a losing battle. The members of the Order were glad to oblige, and mopped up the remaining three in quick succession.

It was then that the twins began hollering, shouting celebratory war-whoops to commemorate their quick victory. Caught up in the spirit of the moment, Tonks, Lupin, and Shacklebolt allowed themselves to join in. These were the shouts Harry heard as he battled to remain conscious while clinging to Hermione on the back of the broom he had just used to retrieve the Horcrux.

As Lupin and McGonagall rushed forward to figure out which Death-eaters they had just stunned, Hermione flew the broom from the catacombs into the building which the muggles thought was a department store but was actually the departure point for the tours of the catacombs. She maneuvered the broom toward the door, opened it, and flew slowly through it, careful not to jar Harry, whose grip around her waist had been weakening ever since he got on the broom.

The twins were the first to notice the door move, and they flew toward the building. They saw that the three people on the broom were Harry, Ron, and Hermione long enough before they noticed that Harry and Ron were injured that they had time to get off a couple of jokes off before things turned serious.

"Should have known that you three somehow figured into this whole 'security mission,'" George stated.

"Yeah, nice of you to show up right after the fighting's over, though. Not that we didn't handle it find without you three, mind. But still," Fred agreed.

Then, they got close enough to see that all was not well. "Oh, bloody hell!" yelled Fred. "They're hurt! It looks like Ron and Harry are unconscious."

"I'm not unconscious," mumbled Harry, but only loud enough that Hermione could hear.

"Ron's unconscious, Harry's conscious, but in a bad way. They both need medical attention as quickly as possible! One of you go back and get McGonagall, I think she'll be able to help!" shouted Hermione, as Hermione landed the broom on the ground.

Fred flew towards McGonagall while George helped Hermione dismount the broom and lay Harry and Ron on the sidewalk in front of the department store. Not the best place for a makeshift medical unit, but it would have to do.

"What the hell happened down there? What were you looking for?" asked George.

"I'm sorry, I can't tell you," said Hermione, who looked like she was on the verge of crying again, looking at Ron's unconscious form.

"Of course," said George, feeling immediately stupid for asking. Knowing information that no one else got to find out was Harry, Ron, and Hermione's territory. Fred and George's territory, George recalled, was jokes and pranks. Unfortunately, neither helped much in a situation like this one.

Harry tried to talk, but all that came out was a moan. George bent down and put a hand on his shoulder, meant to comfort him. Of course, as Ron was family, George was more concerned about Ron than he was about Harry, but as Ron was unconscious, he reckoned Harry could benefit more from whatever comfort he had to offer. Besides, Harry was practically family as well. Harry managed an, "Ow," and George determined that his comforting hand was actually doing more harm than good, so he removed it.

Hermione bent down and tried to find a pulse on Ron. He still had one, but it felt slower than Hermione thought it ought to. McGonagall arrived along with Fred on his broom, and immediately rushed to Ron. Hermione began frantically to explain what had happened to Ron.

Harry's eyes were shut, and the pain throughout his body had dulled to an ache, except in his left arm, where it had entered the translucent sphere, that pain was more searing. His mind was still doing its best to take a vacation from consciousness, and now that he was safely off the broom and onto the ground, Harry had lost his only convincing motivation to fight that battle. McGonagall would get to him whenever she was done with Ron. Until then, Harry reckoned he'd be in less pain if he weren't conscious.

When he woke up, his left arm still hurt, but less, mostly in his hand. His first non-pain-related thought was that he was not lying on concrete anymore. He was definitely resting on a mattress. Well, that was a step up, if nothing else, he thought. Then he remembered _why _he had been laying on the concrete. Then, he remembered Ron.

His eyes shot open. He registered that he was, for some reason, in the Burrow, in Ron's bedroom. His eyes darted around the room, checking for Ron. Luckily, he wasn't too hard to find. He was sitting on the edge of the same bed (Ron's bed, actually) that Harry was lying on. He was fully conscious, and, once he noticed that Harry had woken up, he smiled, too. Hermione, Ginny, McGonagall, Madame Pomfrey, Mrs. Weasley and the twins were all there as well. Ron's room was hardly able to contain them all.

"He's up!" shouted Ginny, happily.

"Oh, thank goodness!" said Mrs. Weasley.

"Yes, thank goodness indeed," agreed Madame Pomfrey.

Harry looked down at his left hand, and squinted in confusion. It was in a black glove. He instinctively ripped it off, without even asking Madame Pomfrey whether it was serving some medical purpose in being there. He remembered that the curse had started to eat away at his hand, and wanted to see how much damage it had done.

Each of the fingers on Harry's left hand looked like they had been sawed off midway between the first and second knuckles. Harry gasped. His hand hurt, but it didn't hurt nearly bad enough to tip him off that something like this had happened. He reckoned that Madame Pomfrey must have force-fed him some kind of potion while he was unconscious to take some of the pain away when he woke up. He was grateful for that, at least.

"We gave you the glove so that you wouldn't have to see that. It also will simulate a hand, so that you'll be able to have limited functionality with it until we can figure out a more permanent arrangement. Of course, we can't get your hand back, but we should be able to give you a decent substitute, by way of prosthetics," said Madame Pomfrey, "But at the moment, I think you would do well to have some time to rest by yourself."

Harry barely had time to process all this before beginning to argue. Parts of his hand was missing. Of course, he realized that it could have been much worse, but he was still rather sour about it. But he would have more time to think about that later, and rather wanted to keep his mind off of it for as long as possible. He certainly did _not_ need time alone to think about it.

"Could Ron, Hermione, and Ginny stay, at least?" asked Harry, knowing from his previous experience with Madame Pomfrey that the answer would certainly be no.

In fact, it appeared that Madame Pomfrey was about to confirm his suspicions when McGonagall, whose presence in the room Harry was still a bit confused about, said, "I think maybe we should let the four of them have some time alone. He seems to be okay, and we've done all we can to heal him. I'm sure they'll let us know if he goes unconscious again, why don't we give them a bit of privacy?" she asked. She was still feeling guilty for sending the three of them into the catacombs to do a job that adults would have been—or at least should have been—more capable of doing than the three of them, and felt that if they needed some time alone, that was the least she could do for them.

As they left, Harry's mind was still reeling. Rather belatedly, Harry noticed that sunlight was streaming through the window. "What time is it?" he asked in confusion, as he lifted his head from the pillow.

Ron glanced at his watch. "About 3 in the afternoon. You've been out for…"

"Almost fifteen hours," finished Hermione.

"You're all fixed up, then, mate?" Harry asked Ron.

"Yeah. It turns out the snake was a magical one, but after McGonagall put a preservation spell on me, that kept my pulse going for long enough that she was able to get Pomfrey to come over, determine what venom I had going through me, and find me the anti-serum. I was fully recovered by six o' clock this morning. Since then, we've just been worried about when you were going to come through," recounted Ron.

"What happened to me, anyway?" asked Harry.

"We were rather hoping you'd be able to tell _us_, that, actually," said Hermione. "Madame Pomfrey said that it looked like the work of an odd curse, but it was no curse Bill had ever heard of."

"In fact, he had been thinking about going down in the catacombs to investigate it himself, but then we told him about all the snakes and he reconsidered," explained Ron.

He told the three of them about the letter from Voldemort and the translucent sphere. During his retelling, he had reached into his cloak to find that the goblet was no longer on him. Hermione explained that McGonagall had taken it from him, had probably already destroyed the Horcrux, and that she wanted to talk to the four of them as soon as Harry was rested up.

At one point in the conversation, Harry said, "Hey guys. You know, I was distracted from this in light of all the injuries and whatnot, but… We did it! We got the bloody Horcrux! That's five down, one to go!" he shouted just low enough that he was certain no one outside the room would hear. Unless, of course, the twins were listening in. But they wouldn't know what a Horcrux was anyway.

"Well, he could be making new ones, you know," said Hermione.

"Way to look on the bright side," scoffed Ron.

"I don't think he is, though" said Harry. "I mean, you saw how much work he must have gone through to guard this one. I don't think he can just set these Horcrux-lairs up at the rate of one per week or anything. Besides, it isn't as if he's got an unlimited supply of soul to draw from here," countered Harry. "At any rate, we can talk about this more when we talk to McGonagall. For the moment, let's just relish the fact that we just got through the hardest thing we've ever had to do. We just got through Voldemort's best defenses that he put up around his Horcrux! And we survived!"

"Yeah, you did!" shouted Ginny. It was the first thing she had said since she had announced that he had woken up, and it seemed like she had just gotten through the initial relief that he was all right.

Then, Hermione looked at Ron. "You know, maybe we ought to give these two bit of time alone."

"Er, right, yeah," said Ron. He patted Harry on the shoulder. "But we could come back at any time, so keep it g-rated."

"Will do, Ron, will do," promised Harry, with a grin. Hermione and Ron filed out of the room.

"You feeling back to normal?" asked Ginny.

Harry nodded. He had been sitting up in the bed for most of the conversation, and, although he had felt light-headed at first, was now quite over it.

"Good, then I think I'm okay to do this," said Ginny, as she put her arms around him and kissed him. He put his arms around her as well, placing his hands low on her back. But, when he put his left hand down, he, obviously, could feel nothing with his finger-tips, which were, of course, missing. He drew his hand away as if it had been burnt. In fact, it still hurt a bit, but that wasn't why he had pulled it away. It was creepy for him to touch Ginny's back and not feel anything where his fingertips should be, and he could only imagine that it would be creepy for her, being touched with a glove that encased a mangled hand.

He drew back from her kiss.

Ginny drew back as well, concerned. "What's wrong, Harry?" she asked, sitting down beside him and slipping her left hand into his right.

"My bloody _hand_," he said, impatiently. He was immediately sorry for having snapped at Ginny, but he wasn't in much of a mood to apologize either, at the moment. He couldn't understand why Ginny would stay with him, why she would insist on being with him. She knew full well he might not make it to his next birthday, why did she insist on staying with him, through the risks, through the worry, through the danger? And now he was going off and getting himself injured, just looking for a Horcrux. How much worse would Voldemort do to him when he got a chance at him in person? Even if he made it through the battle alive, he reckoned there was a good chance that not all of him would. He had a quick vision of himself with Moody's scars, wooden leg, and artificial eye. This stupid glove would probably only be the beginning. He couldn't help but thinking that someone as wonderful and beautiful as Ginny deserved better than that. Or, at the very least someone who had a better than fifty-fifty shot of even being _alive _for more than another year.

Ginny, however, didn't seem to be thinking this way at all. She got an exaggerated look of confusion on her face, and said, "But, Harry, it isn't _bleeding_, is it?" Harry was amazed as she took off his glove, looked at his mangled hand, and held it in her own. "No, see Harry? Whatever the curse did, it somehow took away part of the flesh without drawing any blood. Ew, you _can_ see some of the bone though. That's rather gross." She scrunched up her nose.

"Only _rather_ gross?" asked Harry skeptically. Still, he was beginning to feel a bit better about himself.

"Well, yes. I'll get used to it, of course, given some time. But, we'll have plenty, won't we? You promised you'd get through the final battle, remember? So we could grow old together and I can have as much time as I need to get used to whatever new scars you come home with." She grinned and stuck her tongue out.

That's right, an amazed Harry thought to himself, she was holding his injured hand, grinning, and sticking her tongue out, as if the whole thing hadn't fazed her at all.

"How the hell did you know what I was thinking?" asked Harry.

"All redheads can read minds to some extent. You've never noticed how Fred and George always know what the other one's thinking, and how my mother always knows when one of us has been misbehaving?" she asked.

"What about Ron, then?"

"Ah, well, Ron's always been a bit dim. Actually, his hair was brown when he was born, but it would have been such an embarrassment to have a brown-haired child along with the rest of us red-haired Weasleys that my Mum decided to magically dye it. It'll stay red forever now," joked Ginny with a giggle.

"Well, telepathy or no, you're amazing," Harry said.

"I'm so amazing, in fact," stated Ginny, "that since you just lost part of your hand, I'll ignore the fact that you implied that I was superficial enough to be put off by the fact that you lost part of your hand."

"Oh, come on," said Harry with a grin. "Apparently your telepathy skills aren't _that_ great. I wasn't thinking that you _would _mind, I was just sad for you that you were stuck with someone who always insisted on going off and getting himself injured."

"Ah yes, _stuck _with the most famous wizard of our generation. Doomed to be the girlfriend of the one man that every witch within a ten year span of our age wants to be with. You could lose both your arms and I'd still be lucky as hell to be with you. As long as you're breathing, Harry, I'll be here for you."

"That's really sweet, Ginny," Harry replied sincerely.

"Besides, it's always been your untidy mess of hair that I've been attracted too," she said, reaching up and tousling his hair. "So, yeah. As long as you're breathing and have a full head of hair, I'll be here for you."

Harry laughed, and it felt so good that he kept laughing. Ginny had just turned him in two minutes from thinking morbid thoughts of his own possibly imminent death or crippling to a good hearty laugh.

She kissed him again. This time, he did not draw back.

A/N: Hmmm… right. So, not one of my better chapters, but it could have been worse, I feel, so I'm not really going to apologize. Anyway, I feel that most of what happened in this chapter was necessary, and hopefully the rest was at least entertaining. And, I thought it had a couple of strong points… Anyway, I'm curious to see what you all thought of it, so review if you get a chance.


	18. ShortLived Victory

A/N: All right, thanks a bunch to all the reviewers of the previous chapter. Individual responses will go up on my message board at some point today (Saturday). I know this was a fairly long wait for a comparatively short (only 3500 words of actual story) chapter, but it was a tough chapter to write. It seems a lot of these chapters have been difficult. Ah well.

Chapter 18

Short-Lived Triumph

The rest of that day went rather pleasantly, with Harry's primary emotion being relief that they had actually managed to retrieve the Horcrux. Yes, he had been maimed in the process, but the general relief he had about the Horcrux overshadowed that. Besides, he was still confident that the whole thing would work itself out somehow. Voldemort had given Wormtail a silver synthetic hand. Harry was pretty sure that someone like Madame Pomfrey, who specialized in Medical Medicine instead of terrorizing muggles would probably be able to work out something suitable.

Even the talk with McGonagall, which happened at about 4:00, once Harry and Ginny were finished talking, didn't quash his high spirits.

While Harry had been out, McGonagall had asked Ron and Hermione about everything that had happened in the catacombs before Hermione had to turn back, so all McGonagall needed Harry to fill her in on was the actual retrieval of the Horcrux itself. When he informed her about the letter that Voldemort wrote, McGonagall nodded knowingly. "Sounds like him. Always so arrogant. That's the one reason we might still have a chance here, even though he knows that we know about his Horcruxes."

"So, you still think we might be able to get the other Horcrux before he makes other ones?" asked Harry, hopefully.

"It's a possibility. Voldemort definitely knows now that you're the one hunting the Horcruxes. If nothing else, Snape will have tipped him off after he recovered from the curse you dealt him on Halloween night. He probably further believes that it will be useless to continue to make Horcruxes with you still searching for him. Also, it's rather exhausting to continue splitting his soul. Besides which, in spite of the fact that he knows most of his Horcruxes have been destroyed, he would probably be reluctant to split his soul into any more than sevenths. To be willing to do that, he'd have to be relatively confident that the new Horcruxes would be safe. In his opinion, it would be easier to kill you than to continually attempt to continue to protect himself. Of course, that doesn't mean he's just going to give you the final Horcrux, but it might mean that he'll come after you before you giving you a chance to find the last Horcrux. However, he never has been quite that predictable, so none of this is set in stone, but it does give us some hope, just so long as you can stay safe until the last Horcrux is destroyed," said McGonagall.

"Well, that's never been the easiest thing to do in the past," recalled Harry. "Still, at least there's hope."

"Yes, there's still hope," agreed McGonagall, once again looking and sounding rather tired. "And that's what I want you lot to focus on for now. If you get any brainstorms, obviously you should let me know. And pump the journal for any more information Rowena Byzanti might have figured out that could still help us, but don't be too hopeful on that count, as we don't even know whether the last horcrux was hidden by the time she died. But, at least for today, give yourselves a break. You've all been through a lot recently, and you need to rest up for a bit so that you're ready to get back into the routine of school. Hermione, Ron, and Harry, remember that things are only going to get harder, now that you've only got a little over five months until your N.E.W.T.s."

But that afternoon, nothing could keep Harry out of his newly acquired good mood at the seizing of the second to last Horcrux. Well, he supposed he also owed some of his good mood to the little pep-talk Ginny had given him earlier that afternoon. He was beginning to wonder if it wasn't a bit odd that it seemed that every good mood he'd had recently somehow involved Ginny. But this question didn't bother him that afternoon.

The good mood lasted all through the rest of the 29th of December, and all the way until he came down for breakfast on the morning of the 30th. His mood was ruined from the first moment that he laid eyes on the front page of the Daily Prophet which Mrs. Weasley was reading with a look of concern as she absentmindedly prepared breakfast.

The headline read "_Mass Escape From Azkaban_." Mrs. Weasley was the only one in the kitchen so far, as Ron was still getting ready for breakfast, and Hermione and Ginny were still upstairs as well. Mr. Weasley's absence from the kitchen was explained by the headline, as he would have flooed off to the Ministry as soon as he had heard. Not that there would be much he could do through the Ministry. This would be a job mostly for the Order, Harry reckoned. Of course, there might not be much that they could do either.

Ron stumbled down the stairs. Harry motioned wordlessly at the newspaper in Mrs. Weasley's hands. Ron looked at it and gaped. The process was repeated as Hermione came down the stairs next and once again with Ginny. Mrs. Weasley seemed to be rather at a loss for words as well, since instead of saying anything to them, she simply sat the paper down on the kitchen table when she was done with it, allowing the four of them to read the article.

Unfortunately, the text of the article provided little comfort. It was quite as bad as it sounded. It seemed that Voldemort had managed to recruit certain members of the Ministry guards that had been keeping watch on the prisoners in Azkaban instead of the Dementors. There had been a total of only twenty or so guards at the prison, keeping tabs on the most dangerous sixty wizards in the British Isles. Of course, that ratio had seemed quite reasonable, given the fact that only the guards had had wands. But apparently Voldemort had bought off about 7 of the guards, sent in another few of his best troops, and allowed the prisoners and the advantage of surprise to tip the odds in his favor. All told, none of the guards who had not defected had survived the previous night. By the time the papers carrying the news were sent out that morning, the prisoners had only been out for several hours, but already the Prophet was able to report a new rash of muggle killings, probably in commemoration of the new victory.

Harry's head was spinning and he pressed his hands against his forehead. This, of course, reminded him that he was missing the tips of the fingers on his left hand. The last forty-eight hours now seemed to be clearly in Voldemort's favor. Surely Voldemort would count the addition of sixty death-eaters to his corps as worth the loss of a single Horcrux. Sure, not all of the prisoners had necessarily been on Voldemort's side when they had been put in the prison, but none of them probably had a great moral compass and would therefore probably be convinced rather easily to join the side of the man that had just freed them from prison.

The silence in the kitchen continued until an owl began tapping at the kitchen window. It was a Hogwarts owl and carried a letter which said simply _"Meeting at noon at headquarters." _

"We'll all go, of course," said Mrs. Weasley, confirming what everyone had already assumed. "They probably intended for you to come anyway, besides, we're not going to leave any of you alone in the house."

In the hours before the meeting, Harry's new favorite topic of thought was how quickly the momentum of the war had shifted in favor of the Death-Eaters. It seemed so odd to remember that only just that morning Voldemort seemed to be only one step away from being mortal. Now Harry was forced to recall that besides the one remaining Horcrux, an apparently ever-increasing number of supporters also stood between Voldemort and death.

When Harry, Hermione, and the Weasleys arrived at Headquarters, the mood there was understandably grim. At noon, McGonagall called the meeting to order with the following grim announcement:

"The recent tragedy at Azkaban should come as no surprise to us, but it calls to the forefront several truths that we have known for quite some time. First of all, it shows how strong Voldemort and his supporters have come to be, and how few people are really for us. The vast majority of magical people are still operating in a state bordering on neutrality, still looking out for their own interests rather than that of the community at large. The Ministry as a whole is little more help now than when they were aggressively denying the existence of the enemy. As the only feasible resistance to the end of our current world order, the members of this Order will be increasingly obliged to rely only on each other for support. We have just paid a great price for trusting the Ministry to imprison our enemies. Now we have far more enemies at large than before, and it is clear that we can no longer trust the Ministry to carry out the task of imprisoning captives of war. We have two options, then, and must come to a decision. Either we endeavor, with our limited manpower, to staff our own makeshift prison, or we must pursue a conscious policy to avoid the problem of prisoner detainment by…" McGonagall hesitated for a moment then settled upon a euphemism which did little to make what she was proposed sound more pleasant, "declining to take any prisoners. Now, this is, of course, a grave discussion and we must consider it well. Does anyone have anything to say?"

Harry surveyed the room, realizing that what McGonagall said was true. The people in this room (there were about 40 of them, most of whom Harry knew by name) were really the only realistic defense against Voldemort. There were plenty more who were supposedly opposed to Voldemort, but, as the recent events at the prison proved, these were easily bought off, killed, or circumvented. The odds looked almost hopeless.

Mad-Eye Moody rose. "Obviously, the only feasible option is to kill anyone who is captured. I know that many of you, following the admirable example of Albus Dumbledore, would prefer a slightly more kind approach to our enemies. And, optimally, this would be an option. But we are in the middle of a war. As Minerva mentioned, we are of limited numbers, and these are steadily dwindling with every passing month as our enemy continues to murder those on our side, sneaking into their homes and killing them in their sleep along with the rest of their families. With these limited numbers, we must choose either to fight our enemy, or to dedicate practically our full force to the task of guarding whatever prisoners we may take. There is really no other option than to aim to kill in all circumstances."

There was respectful silence at his words, which, although cold and devoid of feeling, had a logic which couldn't be practically argued with. Harry looked around to gage his friends' reactions. Ron was nodding in grim agreement, Fred and George exhibited similar reactions. Ginny was frowning, and Hermione was shaking her head, but neither looked like they would say anything.

To Harry's slight surprise, the person who eventually did rise to debate Moody's point was Mrs. Weasley.

"I can't deny that these death-eaters deserve to die, and maybe they even _need _to die. But if I understand you right, what you're proposing is that in a situation where one of us has already managed to disable an opponent, perhaps by a petrifying curse, then we are obliged, for lack of a feasible prison, to kill our opponent anyway?" asked Mrs. Weasley.

"Yes, regrettably, that is our only option, at present," said Moody.

"That is nothing short of murder. Which makes the person who does the killing a murderer, however justified they might be. I can see how for battle-hardened veterans like yourself, that's an acceptable sacrifice, but you forget that not all of us who are fighting are aurors and professional warriors. Almost every single one of my children have been involved in at least one battle with death-eaters, and it seems likely that some of them may have to do battle again. Are you proposing to make my children into murderers?" asked Mrs. Weasley with a protective ferocity.

Moody rose again and seemed about to answer in the affirmative when McGonagall interjected instead. "No, Molly, no one is planning to make your children into murderers. If they end up in battle, they can still aim to disable their opponents. The disabled opponents will then be transferred to some wizard who is able to carry out the unfortunate justice which must await all enemies who we capture. Anyone would be free to take prisoners on their own. However, these prisoners must face death rather than imprisonment. At least, that's what will happen if that's what we decide. I think that unless there are any further objections, we should vote on this now. For my own part, let me just say that I recognize that, by killing prisoners, we may be conceding in some small way to the principals of the enemy. Therefore, I propose that we should give the enemy the option to take an unbreakable vow to stay in Azkaban if we let them live. Then, if they were to leave Azkaban, they would die. Of course, few, if any of them, will take this option, as they will know that if the prison ever fell back into Voldemort's power, he himself would torture and kill them for making a deal with the enemy. But this option would allow us to maintain the moral high-ground at least, for what that's worth."

Upon a quick vote, it was decided that any Death-eaters captured in the future would be given the choice of a self-enforced imprisonment in Azkaban or a quick death. This seemed like a better policy than allowing the Ministry to handle the prisoners alone, as that hadn't worked so far. Of course, the tricky part, Harry remembered as the special meeting of the Order broke up, would be to actually capture some prisoners.

The remainder of break had a bit of a melancholy tone as the news was permeated with news of increasing violence in the aftermath of the prison break-out. Harry hated the thought that Lucius Malfoy and Bellatrix Lestrange were now back on the loose. Harry thought once more about what Lestrange had helped to do to Neville's parents, and wondered if death wasn't too humane a punishment for her.

On McGonagall's advice, Harry, by himself one night after Ron had fallen asleep, wrote in Rowena's journal again. Remembering McGonagall's skepticism that the last Horcrux had even been hidden by the time of Rowena's death, he decided to ask the question straight out. When the journal replied that, no, the Horcrux had not yet been hidden by that time, he sighed and put the journal away. It would not be until several weeks later that he realized that he had asked the wrong question of the journal, and that the one he asked was of little consequence.

Term began with little excitement. The most enjoyable part of the first week was the DA meeting. During the meeting, Neville taught the first and second years how to do the petrificus totalus curse, and Hermione taught the older members a spell that one could cast on either oneself or someone else which made the subject of the spell insensitive to pain for one hour. It was a very obscure spell which Hermione had managed to dig out of a library book which she was probably the only person to read during the present century.

"It's really advanced magic, though, so, it's quite all right if not all of you get it today. Also, keep in mind that while this spell can be dead-useful if you expect someone to cast the Cruciatus curse on you, or if you need to fight in spite of pain, it's not good to overuse it because there are of course times when pain is necessary to alert us to injuries which we need to pay attention to. Still, it's a good spell to have in our repertoire," Hermione explained.

The group practiced the spell for awhile and the spells by cursing each other with mild pain-causing curses. Hermione got it rather quickly, as did Harry. Ginny got it after about ten minutes, and Luna after fifteen. Once Luna picked up on it, she switched with Neville as the teacher for the younger kids so that he could try it out too. Ron took a bit of time to get the spell, and was so pleased when he finally stood up to one of Hermione's curses without feeling a thing that he punched the table out of excitement. When he didn't feel that either, he grinned in victory.

After both members of a pair had successfully practiced the spell on themselves, they used the Finite Incantatem spell to reverse the effects, then practiced the spell on each other.

"Hermione, if we can do the Finite Incantatem spell on this, wouldn't that mean that if a death-eater could do finish the spell as well, if they wanted to do the Cruciatus Curse on us?" asked Harry.

Hermione addressed the group. "Harry just made a good point. A death-eater could in fact reverse this spell by performing 'finite incantatem' on you. But, the couple of seconds during which they are wondering why you're not writhing on the floor in pain could give you an opportunity to cast a spell of your own. Their first instinct will probably be that they didn't perform the spell correctly, so they'd probably repeat the spell at least once before attempting to end a spell that you had put on yourself and which none of them have probably ever heard of."

Harry nodded in satisfaction. It seemed that Hermione had in fact come up with a very useful spell. He looked around the room and surveyed the members of Dumbledore's Army.

There were several there who would probably be qualified to be in the Order once the year ended, if the need for the Order of the Phoenix still existed by then. Ernie MacMillan and Hanna Abbot had made so much progress over the past few months that Harry was ashamed to feel a bit of prejudicial surprise when he remembered that they were in Hufflepuff. Dean, Seamus, and even Lavendar were also showing great promise. Luna, though a sixth year, and Neville, of course, were also quite good, overshadowed in skill only by Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny, and there were some spells which Luna or Neville were actually the best ones in the group at.

Harry hoped very much that none of these people would see battle in the future, but knew that if they did, they would be more prepared for it after these meetings.

The first two weeks after term began did see an increase of school work. All the seventh year Gryffindors were obliged to stay up doing homework rather later into the night than they would have liked. Ginny had a bit more free time, and was sweet enough to use some of it to sneak down to the kitchens to get Harry, Ron, and Hermione some late-night snacks some nights. On other occasions she was content to sit with Harry and encourage him through his homework after she was done with her own.

Things were just beginning to fall back into the regular rhythm of school when something completely unanticipated happened.

It was a Thursday evening, as dinner was being served in the Great Hall. There was the usual bustle and noise, somewhat muted, as it had been all year, by the fact that many of the students had not come back that year. Neville had just got finished asking Hermione to explain a particularly difficult Charms concept to him, and Ginny, Harry, and Ron were listening sympathetically to each other as each in turn complained how much they were missing Quidditch that year.

Things were going quite normally. The staff table had a few blank spots, but it was common knowledge among the students that one of the security measures on the castle was now having at least one guard on the wall at all times, and it seemed that the staff themselves took part in these guards, in addition, Harry assumed, to other members of the Order.

However, even this acknowledgement of the fact that the castle wall was under constant supervision in no way prepared any of the students for what happened next.

Professor Flitwick ran into the Great Hall with an expression that hushed the crowd of students before he even ventured to speak. After he took a couple of heavy-breathing seconds to gather himself, he said, in the loudest voice he could muster, "Hogwarts is—I can't believe this—Hogwarts is under siege!"

A/N: _Another_ cliff-hanger? Ah well. By the way, it's looking like there will probably be 12 more chapters after this one, as I made a new chapter-summary page for myself, which I then conveniently forgot to save before closing. So, I may have to make another one… But, anyway… exciting things coming up in future chapters, I think. As always, please review!


	19. Hogwarts Under Siege

A/N: Sorry for the long wait. This chapter was ridiculously difficult to write, plus I've been pretty busy as of late. I'm hoping that what came out was worthwhile, but I'm a little bit uncertain about how I feel about this chapter. Oh, also please note that I've stopped updating the reviewer response forum as I have no reason to believe anyone's actually reading it. Any objections, feel free to let me know. Still, thanks very much to everyone who reviewed the last chapter, and any chapters previous to that one. You guys are great!

Chapter 19

Hogwarts Under Siege

Professor Flitwick's announcement was followed by a great amount of surprised muttering which grew steadily louder until McGonagall regained her own composure to a great enough extent to hush the crowd. "Everyone, do your best to stay calm. Remember, this school has been through much worse. At least this time, the enemy has not made it into the school, and we are going to make sure it stays that way. I need all of the staff and any students in leadership positions, including prefects, head boy, head girl, and the head of Dumbledore's army, to gather around the staff table here. The rest of you are to remain seated and are encouraged to continue with your meals if you so desire. Otherwise, I ask only that you keep the noise level low enough that I can give instruction to the staff and prefects."

Harry, Hermione, and Ron each made their way to the front of the room, along with each of the prefects from Gryffindor, who were met at the front of the room by the other prefects from the various houses. Harry assumed that all McGonagall would only instruct them all on how to supervise the younger students while the staff assessed and decided how to deal with the situation.

As they congregated around McGonagall, Flitwick was speaking to her urgently in rushed speech not quite loud enough to be audible, and pointing urgently to a piece of parchment. When he was done, McGonagall addressed the assembled staff and students.

"Professor Flitwick tells me that a number of deatheaters beyond a quick count, but probably over 50, were spotted on the road up to the castle. All prefects who are not both of age and involved in Dumbledore's Army are instructed to keep the students here in the Great Hall and under control until the rest of us get back, and you are now dismissed Harry, I want you to gather all members of Dumbledore's Army who are willing to help defend the school. You and your contingent will be providing support for the combatants by manning the school's walls. You should advise them that the danger, while existent, will be minimal, as the wall is designed in such a way that those fighting from it will be able to cast spells at their opponents while still being protected by the wall. You'll see what I mean once you get up there. Oh, and, since I cannot imagine Ms. Weasley putting up with not being allowed to help, I would just like to clarify that although I cannot officially allow someone who is underage to participate in battle, I would also have no time to stop her from fighting, given the circumstances. That said, I'll meet you back here in about a half an hour, once the staff and I have analyzed the situation from the wall. Staff, follow me," concluded McGonagall, who then turned and swept out of the Great Hall. She was followed closely by Shacklebolt, then by other members of the staff, including Flitwick, who still looked rather exhausted from his hurried trip up to the castle in the first place. Bringing up the rear of the faculty contingent was Slughorn, who looked rather reluctant to participate, and had apparently not expected to see combat when he signed up to be a Hogwarts professor during the previous year.

Harry was, of course, quite stunned by the recent developments, and had many unanswered questions about what precisely was going on and what he was supposed to do. But, he knew that the first step would be to muster his troops, so he decided to take all of this one step at a time and made an announcement, to a Great Hall which seemed to hush itself as he began to speak. It seemed that the whole student body, those who were in the DA as well as those who weren't, were looking to him for guidance. He decided to start his announcement accordingly. "The professors have gone off to assess the situation. However, from what Professor Flitwick has told McGonagall, it seems that she's determined that the professors will have to do battle to stop the Death-Eaters from advancing. From most of you, all that is required is to remain calm and wait for the situation to pass. No one has ever before breached the gates of Hogwarts, and there's no reason to believe that this will be the night for it to happen. However, those of you who are in Dumbledore's Army have proven that you are generally not content to sit and let things happen to you, and so I would like to call a special meeting of Dumbledore's Army at the front of the Great Hall. And, like McGonagall said, the rest of you can keep eating, or not. Just obey your prefects' and stay inside the Great Hall."

The members of the DA were quite ready to follow Harry's orders and were all assembled around him. He knew he would only be able to ask those who were of age to come to the wall, but the rest could still be useful within the Great Hall, helping the prefects to keep the rest of the students under control.

"Right, then," Harry began, as he surveyed the group around him. "This is what we've been training for, and what this club was formed for in the first place. Now, the professors are getting ready to go out there and take care of this, and I'm sure that they'll send someone to apparate over to the ministry and bring back reinforcements. But, the thing is, McGonagall wants to make the most of the defensive advantage. While it seems that she plans on the professors going forth and giving battle, they need some people to guard the walls. Anyone who's in the DA and is of age is allowed to come out, so if you're qualified and interested, stay up here. Otherwise, you can return to your seats." The first through third years obeyed immediately and sat down. Some of the fourth and fifth years seemed to hesitate, then decide that they couldn't pass as 17, and they sat down as well. Soon, it was only the 7th years, and a few sixth year students.

Harry looked around at the group, and realized that the couldn't think of a better group of people to be defending a castle with. There were, of course, Neville, Luna (who had recently turned 17), Ron, Hermione, and Ginny. Also present were the other Gryffindor seventh years, Lavender, Seamus, and Dean. Ernie Macmillan and Hanna Abbot were representing Hufflepuff. The Ravenclaw Seventh years Andrea Rhodes and David Aesop were also there. Only one Slytherin was there, a Seventh year named Clara Jameson. Each David, Andrea, and Clara had shown themselves to be competent in the meetings so far that year, even though they had not been in the club two years ago when it was being run underground. Clara was, as far as Harry knew, the only Slytherin in the club.

Harry had taken long enough to address the assembled members of the DA that Ginny apparently thought that he was waiting for her to sit down. "I'm not sitting down, Harry," she said, stubbornly. "I'm just as experienced as at least half of the rest of you all, and I'm not going to sit in here with the little kids and behave."

"I know you aren't, Ginny," Harry said. He didn't want her to do anything unnecessary to risk her neck, but from the way McGonagall had described the wall so far, it didn't seem like Ginny would be in much danger, nor would any of the rest of them. He knew that if it was too dangerous, McGonagall would not be letting the rest of the students, even the ones who were of age, to go up there. Of course, they wouldn't be quite as safe as if they would if they stayed in the Great Hall, but he knew Ginny wouldn't do that. And she had been obligingly cooperative in not arguing to be included in the search for the last Horcrux. Harry figured that he would have to choose his battles.

"So, what are you waiting for, then?" asked Ginny skeptically.

"Well, I'm not really the one in charge. McGonagall's still got to come back and tell us what to do. All I know, as about half of you heard from McGonagall herself, is that the wall is fortified in such a way that those of us up there will be able to fight from behind fortifications," said Harry.

"I wonder why they're bothering to give battle?" asked Ernie. "Couldn't Hogwarts hold up to a siege?"

"It depends whether the death-eaters have any Gibraltar Doxy-Dust," registered Luna. She was completely ignored.

"Well, apparently if they're going to have us participate in a battle, no matter how safe we'll be, that must mean they think there's a risk of the battle being lost. McGonagall wouldn't put students into battle lightly," registered Hermione rationally.

"Well, if they think that the siege might succeed, wouldn't it be a good idea to get the younger students out?" asked the Slytherin, Clara.

"If the Death-eaters are already out there, how could the younger students get out?" asked Harry.

"The fire-places, of course," said Clara.

"Wouldn't work," said Hermione. "The fire-places in the school are disconnected from the Floo-network during the year. Otherwise it'd be too easy for students to use the Floo network to sneak out of the castle, or into the headmaster's office and whatnot."

"Yes, well, we know that," said Ernie, in a tone that suggested that he had tried at least once to use the Floo network from inside the castle. "But wouldn't this qualify as rather an emergency situation that would merit the school being reconnected?"

"It's not that simple. It takes at least twelve hours to perform the required magic, and apparently McGonagall isn't sure we have that kind of time," conjectured Hermione.

Hermione seemed to be looking to Harry as if she expected him to come to her aid in the argument, but he had little to say. He was still quite thrown off by McGonagall telling him that they were going to be needed in the battle, he hadn't had much thought to spare on the question of why it was necessary. It was more important to him to think of what they were going to do now that they had been called on.

"Why don't we all go over some of the most useful spells we can use if anyone gets close enough to give us a clear shot?" suggested Harry in a voice which was remarkably calm given the circumstances.

"Well, Petrificus Totalus would seem to be one of the best options. It would disable them with comparatively little effort on our part," said Neville.

"Good idea," agreed Harry.

Before there was any time to discuss further options, McGonagall entered the room again. She surveyed the group of thirteen students around Harry and gave a satisfied nod. "Very good," she said. "If you lot will just follow me, I'll explain what you're going to do on the way to the wall." As they left the room, she glanced back over her shoulder and instructed the remaining students, "Everyone, just behave and obey your prefects. Prefects, make sure all the students remain in the dining hall. Aside from that, just know that there's no reason to panic. You're safe within these walls, just like always. The magical enchantments surrounding this school are some of the best there are, and we are only giving battle to those outside the walls as a precaution." Having said that, she led the assembled members of Dumbledore's Army out the door.

"Well," McGonagall continued once the doors had closed behind them and they were out of earshot of the younger students, "obviously I wouldn't be taking you lot with me if we were only giving battle as a precaution, but there's no reason to make the younger students panic, especially as I'm quite confident that with you protecting us from above, we'll be able to hold out until we can get back-up from the ministry. Currently, Professors Flitwick, Sprout, Shacklebolt, and I are prepared to do battle, along with three guards from the Ministry who were already on guard duty here at the school, including Tonks," McGonagall added in an aside to Ginny, Harry, Ron, and Hermione, who were walking closest to her. "One of the guards went out onto the grounds to try to apparate, but the death-eaters seem to have already put up an anti-apparitions spell, so I've sent Slughorn up to my office to get in contact with someone at the Ministry via floo-powder."

Well, thought Harry, that was at least one way that the floo-network could still be useful to them. Even though the students would not be able to travel to safety through it, at least Slughorn could still stick his head through it to get in contact with someone at the Ministry. Thinking of it, Harry reckoned that this was probably the best way that Slughorn could be used in the battle, as from what he knew of Slughorn, he doubted that he'd be much one for battle.

"Wait," piped up Ernie Macmillan, obviously confused. "How would one of the Ministry guards have been able to go through the gate without opening it up and letting the death-eaters in?"

"Well, first of all, the Death-eaters were far enough away from the wall at the time that there was no danger of that. However, one of the enchantments works in such a way that when the gate is only part-way open, people can go out, but not come back in. The only way that the guard was able to come back in is that someone on the inside grabbed her hand."

"Oh," Hermione gasped, still obviously surprised by the ingenuity of some of the enchantments guarding the castle, even in a time when these very enchantments were obviously being challenged.

"Yes, but, of course, this enchantment could be broken if the death-eaters were given enough time to do so, which is why we're bothering to go out there and do battle with them at all. There is, of course, no enchantment which cannot be broken, with the proper amount of skill and knowledge. They've got some very talented wizards and witches on their side, including Severus Snape, who will have obviously had quite a long time to study the enchantments guarding this school since Voldemort began to rise to power again. Of course, nobody was bold enough to try to break into the castle while Dumbledore was still here. But they'll soon find out that I'm not one to cross either."

After finishing on that high-note, McGonagall continued to lead them toward the gate in silence. When they made it to the wall of the castle, next to the gate, McGonagall tapped on a particular brick with her wand, and a staircase emerged from the wall, allowing the students to climb up behind McGonagall. When they made it to the top of the wall, they found the professors, along with Tonks and two other aurors who Harry did not recognize.

"Duck down and stay behind the wall," McGonagall instructed the students once they had made it to the top of the wall. The wall was designed such that at the top, there was a kind of trench running along the inside of the wall, with four-foot high walls both toward the outside and the inside. There were, however, small cracks and holes in the wall, running along the top of it at various intervals, which allowed the people on top of the wall both to see outside, and to aim wands. However, the walls were high enough that someone would have a hard time aiming straight down without exposing themselves to fire from those beyond the wall. "What I need you to do is to stay on this wall and try to paralyze or otherwise disable any death-eater who comes close enough for you to do so. It is of great importance that you do not attempt to cast a spell unless you have a clear shot at your victim. We have only seven people currently on our side, we cannot afford to lose any to friendly fire. However, the _most_ important thing is that you remain safe. Do not come down from the wall, and if anyone begins to shoot up at the wall, duck down to make sure that your head is completely protected by the barricade. If it comes to a choice between risking your own neck and trying to save a professor, save yourself. As we've shown plenty of times by replacing numerous Defense Against the Dark Arts professors, Hogwarts can carry on without a professor, but I believe that if Hogwarts were to lose a student to battle at this time, we would have no choice but to close our doors. However, it should not be hard for you to keep safe, just so long as you use the protection of the wall, which is strong enough that any spot on it could handle, if necessary, as many as fifty simultaneous Avada Kedavra curses. As you can see, however, the wall is set up in such a way that it would be rather hard to fire straight down at the gate, if the death-eaters were able to advance that far, which they may well have been able to do if it was just the seven of us guarding the wall," explained McGonagall, motioning to herself, the professors, and the aurors. "Of course, they haven't advanced yet, so ordinarily, we wouldn't have to come down from the wall, but the death-eaters sent an owl, which arrived right before Professor Flitwick came in to notify us of what was going on, which gave an ultimatum that if we did not give battle to them by 7:00, which is fifteen minutes from now, something would happen on the grounds outside the walls that would 'stain the name of Hogwarts with blood forever.' There's a possibility that they're bluffing, but it's not really a risk that we can afford to take at this time."

McGonagall led the six other adults back down the stairs off the wall, and shortly, they made their way through the gate, closing it behind them. As it was beginning to get quite dark, and would only get darker, McGonagall, Shacklebolt and Tonks cast a Luminessa spell like the one they had cast on the ground above the catacombs at Hufflepuff's Hill the previous month.

The death-eaters were still about three-hundred yards away, too far to get a good shot at. However, once they saw the seven people emerge from the gates, they seemed to decide that they could pick them off easily, and the death-eaters started making a rush toward them. They seemed not to know that there were people still remaining on the wall.

Upon Harry's instruction the members of the D.A. spread out slightly along the wall and stuck their heads up slightly above the top of the wall, though not high enough to attract the attention of the death-eaters below. They poked their wands out too.

"All right, I'll tell you when I think they're close enough for us to hit them," instructed Harry. "They're still far enough away that if we miss, we won't be hitting one of our own, but we don't want to draw attention to the fact that there are people up here until we're sure we can use it to our advantage."

As the death-eaters approached, Harry did a quick estimation of their numbers and agreed with Flitwick's guess that there were probably about fifty of them. When they were about 100 yards away from the wall, McGonagall and the others on the ground began to fire at them. "All right, now!" shouted Harry, and the fourteen teens on the wall began to fire at the death-eaters on the ground as well. The death-eaters stopped, and in the confusion of the moment, it was hard to tell which ones stopped because they were petrified, and which ones had stopped to get a better aim. However, some fell, and Harr wasn't sure whether these had just been knocked down by their own momentum when they were petrified, or if some of them had been victims of the Avada Kedavra curse, which Harry reckoned the aurors on the ground might be using.

"Duck!" Harry instructed, as one of the death-eaters fired at the wall. "Quick, everyone change your position by about half the distance between you and your neighbor to your left," Harry instructed, trying to throw off any of the death-eaters who may have seen their positions on the wall. Harry found a small hole in the wall and peaked through it, as several curses went flying over the wall. The professors and aurors seemed to have successfully dodged the spells the death-eaters had hurled at them, but it seemed like about ten or so of the death-eaters had been either paralyzed or killed by the first volley. The odds were evening out a bit, although they were still far from stellar for those defending the castle.

"Okay, when I say so, everyone get up, fire one or two shots, and make sure to get back down before anyone has a chance to fire at you," instructed Harry. "Now!"

Dumbledore's Army seemed to have gotten its collective aim under control, because when Harry had fired two shots (both of which he saw hit their targets), and ducked back down again, a check through the hole in the wall revealed that about another ten or fifteen of the Death-eaters had been brought down by the previous onslaught from the wall.

There were now only about 20 or 30 Death-Eaters still ready for battle, and those remaining seemed to be having a hard time deciding whether they should continue firing offensive spells at those defending the castle, rouse those of their fellows who had been paralyzed, or run. Prodded by the fact that the aurors and professors were hindering their clear thinking by continually firing spells at them, the death-eaters who were able began to retreat.

"Get up and fire at them as they retreat!" suggested Harry, and between those on the ground and those on the wall, they took out a couple more before they got out of a convenient firing range.

Once the death-eaters were far enough away that neither side had to worry about getting hit with spells from the other side, Harry and the other students were able to peer over the wall and survey the damage from the battle. There seemed to be about 20 death-eaters rendered motionless, via death or paralysis, on the field. It was a quite gruesome scene.

On the positive side, it seemed that the damage suffered to the side of the defenders was rather light. Tonks and Flitwick each seemed to limp as those on the ground gathered around McGonagall after the Death-eaters retreated, but at least they were all walking.

Glancing at his watch, Harry noticed that seven o' clock had come and just barely gone. He wondered whether the Death-eaters would still attempt to carry out whatever they had been planning to do to "stain the name of Hogwarts with blood" even though Professor McGonagall had technically given battle like she had been told. Harry rather expected that they would still do their worst.

He was not kept in suspense for long, as about three minutes from the death-eaters' retreat, three more masked men emerged from a large group of trees near where the retreating death-eaters had stopped running. However, the three masked men were not alone, nor even close to it. Between the three of them, they were aiming their wands at a group of perhaps 40 or so people wearing muggle clothing, whose movement they were apparently controlling.

It was clear that the death-eaters were intending to torture or kill the muggles at a safe distance from the wall, unless the four professors and three aurors came to try and stop it. The odds were horrible. The death-eaters outnumbered them about four to one, and those were hopeless odds away from the support of the back-up on the wall.

There was a long moment during which Harry wondered whether McGonagall would attempt to give battle in spite of the hopeless odds, or if she would allow the muggles to be killed in front of her eyes, less than a mile away from Hogwarts.

It turned out, however, that this would not be McGonagall's decision to make, as more people came into sight from behind the Death-eaters. At first, Harry thought that these might be further reinforcements, like those who had emerged from the patch of trees, but he quickly realized that none of these new people were wearing masks. It seemed that Slughorn had gotten the word into the Ministry, and now there were seven people who Harry assumed to be Ministry Aurors coming from the direction of Hogsmeade.

Now the death-eaters only outnumbered their opponents by about two to one, and that seemed to be enough for McGonagall to decide that the battle was worth fighting, as she led those who were just outside the wall toward the death-eaters.

Over the next several minutes, Harry and the others on the wall watched the battle intently. It was unbelievably frustrating for Harry to be close enough to see the action, but not close enough to participate. At one point, he seriously considered climbing down from the wall and running down to the battle. However, Ginny, who was standing beside him, must have seen him eyeing the staircase, because she put a comforting arm on his shoulder. She spoke to him in a calming whisper, quiet enough that none of the other members of Dumbledore's army could hear what she was saying. "Harry, you know you can't fight now. First of all, if you go to fight, you know that at least most of the rest of us will follow, and this is an all out battle. Some people might wind up dead. And you can't go risking your life now. Think of how the wizarding world would handle the death of their 'chosen one.'"   
Harry knew she was right and that it wouldn't be worth any of the students getting killed to turn the battle. Now that the Ministry had gotten word of the battle, Harry was sure that this would only be the first of several reinforcements, and there was no way that the Ministry would allow the castle to fall under their watch. Besides, the defenders of the school seemed to be holding their own in the battle by themselves, although things did look like they were getting pretty ugly, and by about five minutes into the battle, it seemed that at least two of the aurors who had come up from Hogsmeade lie motionless on the field, along with several death-eaters. This was the most fatal battle Harry had ever witnessed in person, and he was having to exercise all of his self-control not to lead Dumbledore's Army into the fray.

The battle was a mess of spell-light and people darting back and forth across the ground. Given the distance between the wall and the battle and the dimness of the light from the luminessa spell, it was hard to keep track of who was who in the battle. The battle raged on with no major breaks for either side until another wave of reinforcements could be seen coming from Hogsmeade.

There were ten of them this time, and Harry noted that this would basically even out the odds, as the death-eaters who had been paralyzed during the initial onslaught had never been brought back into the battle. Among the ten coming from Hogsmeade now, Harry could recognized Lupin and could make out Moody's awkward limping run, and he also saw that two of the newcomers had red hair.

"It's Bill and Charlie!" gasped Ginny. Since Christmas, Charlie had been on a "special assignment" for the Order, which kept him in England, but which no one other than McGonagall, even the other Weasleys, were allowed to know anything about. It seemed that this new wave of people was the contingent from the Order. Someone at the Ministry must have gotten the word out to the order as well.

The battle continued to go on for several more minutes. With the odds now basically even, most of the fighting had broken down into individual duels between one witch or wizard from each side. It seemed that the death-eaters who had come out tonight were some of the best trained death-eaters that Harry had seen. Harry could hardly keep up with the battle, trying to focus on so many different individual duels at once. McGonagall seemed to be doing quite well, she finished two opponents in impressively quick succession, then went on to find a third. However, Harry was more concerned with watching how Bill and Charlie were faring. Each seemed to be doing quite well, but were evenly matched with the death-eaters they were facing. Harry had put his arm around Ginny, and was doing his best to comfort her in spite of how hard he knew it must be for her to watch her brothers do battle. On Ginny's other side, Hermione was similarly trying to comfort Ron, who seemed to be having quite as much trouble staying out of the battle himself as Harry was. Harry reckoned that Ginny was right, and the only thing keeping Ron out of the battle was that Harry was staying back.

Five minutes behind the members of the Order of the Phoenix, a solitary figure came sprinting up from Hogsmeade. Incredibly, this one also had the unmistakably characteristic Weasley hair. Even from off in the distance, Harry could tell that it wasn't Fred or George, and it certainly wasn't Mr. Weasley, but… It _couldn't _be.

"Percy!" said Ginny, sounding about twice as surprised as Harry.

Harry could not imagine what Percy was doing on a battle-field, but before he reached the fray, the battle dispersed. When Percy was still a considerable distance from the battle, a second solitary figure, this one wearing a mask, emerged into the edge of the area lit by the Luminessa spell. This one pointed its wand toward the air, and shot its own spell into the sky.

It was the second time in less than a year that a Dark Mark shown in the air above the Hogwarts castle, and this time it signaled the end of the battle, as the death-eaters began to run away from the battle as soon as it was cast. The defenders of the castle were stunned enough, and tired enough from the long battle, to let them retreat relatively unharassed, although the did fire spells at their retreating backs, until they reached a certain spot on the grounds which had apparently marked the end of the anti-apparition spell they had cast, and one by one the death-eaters disappeared. It seemed that, although the muggles had been left at the spot to which they had been herded, about 50 yards away from the main battle, the Death-eaters had accomplished what they set out to accomplish. Whatever that was.

In the commotion of Percy's arrival, the appearance of the Dark Mark, and the subsequent retreat of the Death-Eaters, each Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione had taken their eyes off of Charlie and Bill, who they had all been watching. However, once the death-eaters disappeared, they began to scan the field for them again.

The four of them would never be able to figure out who saw it first. It seemed that the four of them let out a collective gasp. Lying there on the field, apparently having lost his duel just before the death-eaters retreated, Charlie Weasley lay dead.

A/N: Yuck. Killing off characters is no fun, and I'm still not sure whether I even like this chapter. I know it leaves some glaring questions, but those should mostly be cleared up next chapter. Meanwhile, I'd love to know what you guys thought of this chapter, so please review.


	20. The Long Night

A/N: Yeah, ok, I realize that this chapter was ridiculously long in coming. But, I've been pretty busy lately, plus this chapter was really hard to write. Seriously, you try writing a chapter after killing off an important character. It's just tough. Anyway, here's the best I could do with it.

Chapter 20

The Long Night

For the rest of his life, Harry would remember the next several hours as some of the longest he ever had to face.

At first Harry's mind couldn't comprehend the sporadic cheering that was breaking out on the wall around him after his fellow students realized that the death-eaters were retreating and that the defenders had just won the battle. When he figured out what the noise was, he still had a hard time believing that anyone could be cheering the outcome of the battle. Couldn't they see that the bodies of several people from their side lay dead on the ground?

But, after his initial confusion, Harry realized that really, it made sense. For most of the other students, this was the first battle they had ever been in. They were still high from the adrenaline that had been coursing through their bodies during the battle, and no one _they _knew personally was lying dead on the ground. Why shouldn't they be happy?

Neville and Luna weren't cheering. Although Harry wasn't sure whether Neville had ever met Charlie personally, he was no doubt able to pick up from the red hair, and the fact that Ginny, Ron, Hermione, and Harry were all dead silent, that the last man to fall on the field was a Weasley. Luna had probably deduced the same thing, but even in his state of shock at Charlie's death, Harry was able to appreciate that such a coherent motivation wasn't necessary to explain why Luna was failing to participate in the actions of the crowd at large.

Down on the field, McGonagall, Lupin, Tonks, Bill, and Percy had rushed to the side of Charlie's motionless form. McGonagall at once bent down to check if Charlie still had a pulse. When she stood up and did not pull out her wand to start performing healing spells on him, it was clear that he did not, and that he had, like Harry had initially expected, been hit by a killing curse.

Beside him, Harry noticed Ginny shake her head suddenly, as if clearing it. "We should be down there," she said suddenly.

Harry knew she was right. The battle was over; there was no reason for them to stay on the wall now. Without another word, Ginny, Harry, Ron, and Hermione began to make their way back down the stairs from the wall. Harry did, however, have the presence of mind to call out to Luna and Neville saying, "Keep the rest of them up here… I'm sure a professor will be up shortly to escort you back to the castle or something." Neville and Luna both nodded, Neville solemnly, Luna rather detachedly. In some strange way, Harry was comforted by Luna's airy demeanor. It was somehow nice to see that even in the midst of more death, some things never seemed to change.

Once they reached the bottom of the stairs and passed through the gate, Ron started running toward his brothers. Ginny immediately took off after him, followed by Harry and Hermione. The four ran as fast as they could. Harry had no idea why they were running, since he knew they couldn't change what had happened, but he ran anyway. He tried to run fast enough that he would focus only on the running, instead of all the emotions going through his brain. The shock and sadness that he felt at the fact that Charlie was dead; Charlie who was so young and had just moments ago had his whole life before him. The frustration that Harry felt knowing that Voldemort had just been responsible for the death of another person he cared about and that Voldemort was still free from fear of death. The pity that he felt for Ginny and Ron who were the last people to deserve the experience of seeing their brother lying dead on a battle field. Then Harry thought about what the death of their son would do to Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. He ran harder, his lungs starting to burn, and for just a few seconds, he almost forgot why he was running. But then they reached the part of the field where McGonagall, Lupin, Tonks, Bill, and Percy were standing, and they stopped. His emotions came flooding back to him.

It was now only about three or four minutes after they had first spotted Charlie lying on the ground, but Harry still found it to be a bit odd that the five adults were still standing there around him when they got there. All five of them, Harry noticed, looked quite visibly shaken and emotionally drained. It was clear that the death of a comrade, especially one so young, still had an extreme effect on them. Harry felt an ironic pride at that realization because he knew full well that the death-eaters who had just retreated were not standing around somewhere mourning the dead who had just fallen by their sides. This was just one more reason that Harry knew he was on the right side.

In the group of nine people who now surrounded Charlie, there was silence except for the heavy breathing of Harry, Ginny, Hermione, and Ron as they worked to catch their breath. They stood for an additional long two or three minutes before McGonagall spoke.

"We will need to take him up to the castle for a proper burial," she stated. "And someone ought to get our other fallen off the field as well," she added. The 'other fallen,' Harry knew, were professional aurors, people McGonagall didn't even know by name. But Charlie, she had met when he was eleven years old, just another nervous kid at the sorting ceremony waiting to be put into a house. Harry could see the tears threatening to drop out of McGonagall's eyes and imagined that she still saw Charlie as that little kid.

Bill dutifully pulled out his wand and prepared to cast a levitating spell on his brother's body.

At that moment, Percy shook his head, much like Ginny had done up on the wall. Harry guessed it must be some kind of a family habit, and through the haze of other emotions he was feeling he wondered briefly why he had never noticed it before. At any rate, Percy seemed to have just remembered where he was and what he was supposed to be doing there. "They… They have Rufus Scrimgeour," he announced.

There was a stunned silence.

"What?" asked Professor McGonagall, clearly not ready for this at all.

"I was there… Er, well, I was right outside of the room, when it happened. They went into his office and they were talking to him, and then they must have taken him through the floo network."

"There's a floo connection into the Minister's office?" asked McGonagall incredulously.

"Not into, no, only outbound," explained Percy. "And it's a larger model than usual, that's how they were able to get him through with them, it can take more than one person through. It's a prototype from the Ministry of Magical transportation. But the point is, we've got to tell someone, now!"

"Yes, I suppose," agreed McGonagall, keeping much more of a level head in dealing with this matter than she had when she was talking about Charlie's burial. "But there's probably very little point. If the death-eaters have him, I certainly doubt that they are holding him for ransom."

McGonagall seemed to shrug off the news of Scrimgeour's kidnapping with much less difficulty than Harry would have imagined, even though Harry had long been under the impression that there was no affection shared between the Headmaster and the Minister. At the very least, McGonagall's thoughts seemed to be divided between the Minister and several other concerns when she next spoke. "Lupin, go talk to the aurors who are still here and alert them that Scrimgeour's gone. Flitwick, take the students from the wall back into the Great Hall. When you get there, explain to the other students what has just happened, and explain to them that they are no longer in any danger. Once you've done that, you can let them return to their common rooms, or to the library, or wherever they need to go. There's no reason to take away from their sense of normalcy. However, please inform Dean, Seamus, and Neville that they will be sleeping in other dorms tonight. We're going to allow the Weasley family to stay in the 7th year Gryffindor boys' dorm for awhile. Ron, Ginny, Harry, and Hermione, why don't the four of you go up there awhile? The rest of your family will be there shortly." Harry reflected for a moment on how McGonagall had said 'your family' as if Hermione and Harry were a part of the Weasley family. But then, he reflected that on the whole, it was about right. At least within the wizarding world, the Weasleys were the surrogate family for both Harry and Hermione. McGonagall paused for a second, then walked quickly over to Ginny and Ron, giving each of them a hug in turn, then said, "As you know, I'm terribly sorry for your loss." She opened her mouth as if to say something else, but then closed it again, as if realizing there was nothing to say.

Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Ginny trudged back up to the castle in silence. Ron and Ginny were each staring fixedly at the ground in front of them. Hermione and Harry caught each other's eye at one point and shared a look of quiet desperation at the fact that they knew there was nothing either of them could do to help their friends.

When they reached the portrait of the Fat Lady, Hermione was the one who finally broke the silence to say the password, but the silence only seemed deeper after having been once broken. Once in the boys' dorm, Ginny sat on Harry's bed, soon accompanied by Harry, as Ron and Hermione sat on Ron's bed. There was a silence that seemed to last for much nearer to an eternity than the four minutes it occupied should have justified.

Ginny was the first to speak up. When she did, her cracking voice sounded as if it had indeed not been used for almost an eternity. But she cleared her throat, and said, "I... I think I could use a hug."

The response was immediate. Harry, with part of him relieved that there was finally something semi-constructive for him to do, wrapped Ginny in a tight hug. Ron moved to Harry's bed, sat on Ginny's other side, and hugged her from there. Hermione came and, bending forward halfway over the bed, put an arm each around Ginny and Ron. If someone had walked in on the scene, it would have looked extremely awkward, but to the four teens involved, it was therapeutic, it was warm, it was right, and for a moment, it seemed to chase away the sadness. They stayed there for a good two or three minutes, but when they let go, it seemed like it had been much too short, because the sad and helpless feeling returned almost full force as soon as the hug ended.

Nonetheless, Ginny said quietly, "Thanks guys, I think that helped a bit."

No one responded, but this time the dead silence lasted for only about ten seconds before Ron spoke up. "Er, guys, I think we should at least talk. I mean, I know there's nothing productive any of us could possibly say, but anything's got to be better than listening to myself silently curse out the death-eaters in my own head."

"Yeah," agreed Ginny, "I can't stand the silence."

Harry once again felt like he should do what he could to make the situation more bearable for the Weasleys in whatever utterly minute way he could, but he couldn't think of anything to say. Unfortunately, neither could Hermione, nor Ginny, nor Ron. So rather than letting the situation deteriorate once again in to everlasting silence, Harry latched onto what Ron said about the death-eaters. "They'll pay for this, you know," he said resolutely. "The death-eaters, I mean. When we've got Voldemort beat, everyone who was on that field tonight will be rounded up and kept in Azkaban for the rest of their lives."

There was silence again. Then, weakly, quietly, Hermione said, "What if we don't?"

"Don't what?" asked Harry.

"What if we don't get Voldemort?" asked Hermione.

"Of course we will," said Ron fiercely.

"How can you be so sure?" asked Hermione, with a tear falling from her eye. "Percy said they got Scrimgeour. If the Minister of Magic's not safe, then who is?"

Ron glared at her for a moment, "Who _cares _about Scrimgeour? He was always an idiot, wasn't he? The only reason they got him in the first place was that the aurors were distracted by what was going on in Hogwarts. From Percy's story, it sounded like the only security force they left with Scrimgeour was... well... Percy. And you saw McGonagall wasn't concerned that he was gone. The only time she flinched was when she was talking about... You know."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bring up Scrimgeour," said Hermione, still seemingly on the verge of tears. "It's just I'm so scared. I never thought this would happen. And I don't mean Scrimgeour being kidnapped, I mean..." But it seemed obvious that none of them were able to say it yet. Somehow, to Harry, this seemed to make a bit more sense than the inability some people still had to pronounce Voldemort's name.

Then Hermione started to cry. For a second, Ron just glared at Hermione again, but then he pulled her into a hug. "It'll be all right, Hermione," he said. "It'll be all right."

That just made Hermione cry harder, though. "You shouldn't have to be the one saying something like that," said Hermione miserably. "I'm so, sorry. I'm so pathetic, I shouldn't be the one crying."

"It's okay, Hermione," said Ron, "I wasn't going to cry anyway."

Harry looked at Ginny, and wondered for a moment why she wasn't crying. It seemed only natural that she would. Harry could certainly see why Hermione was crying. He would have cried too, more out of sympathy for Ginny and Ron than at his own sorrow, if he didn't feel like he should be strong for Ginny. He knew that it was a rather futile effort, as not crying wouldn't do anything at all to help her, but focusing on not crying at least gave him something to focus on other than the morbidity of the night.

Harry put his arm around Ginny's shoulder. He couldn't think of anything to say, but Ginny spoke to him first. "You know, you can cry, too, if you need to. Just because I'm not, don't think you can't. I know Charlie is like a brother to you." Harry noted that Ginny had not yet changed Charlie's tense from present to past, as if it hadn't yet sunk in that he was dead.

"Yeah," said Harry, who was somewhat shocked by what Ginny had said. He figured that maybe Ginny was able to achieve some distance from her own feelings by thinking of Harry's. "You're right, but I don't want... I shouldn't cry right now."

Harry knew he made no sense, but Ginny nodded with understanding anyway.

Ron and Hermione had stopped talking as well, and Hermione had stopped crying, so Harry was afraid the silence might return when the door to the door opened suddenly. Bill entered the room.

"How are you lot holding up, then?" asked Bill.

"We're safe, anyway," responded Ginny.

"Yeah, for what that's worth, eh?" responded Bill.

Ginny nodded in response.

"I don't think it's sunk in yet, with me," said Ron.

"I think that's normal," said Bill. "I remember, when I was 6 or so, when Grandmother Weasley died, for about a month I wondered why we didn't go to visit her anymore. I mean, I know part of that was just me being a dumb kid, but I do think that it takes awhile for a person's mind to comprehend a loss like this."

"Well, I'll avoid comprehending it for as long as I can, I think," said Ron numbly.

Then the room was silent again, until Fred and George came in. The fact that they were frowning helped to drive the loss home almost even more than the actual sight of Charlie's body had done.

"This is going to sound like a ridiculous question," said Fred, in a more subdued voice than Harry had ever heard him use before, "but did any of you see it happen?"

Bill, Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione each shook their heads solemnly.

"It was in the thick of the battle. People were starting to run away, I was just trying to see what was going on. I do know, though, that he killed at least one of them first. And I think he petrified at least one more. So that one's probably been killed by now, too."

"Well, that's good then, at least," said George.

"Fat lot of good it did him, though," said Fred bitterly.

Things went silent again for a little while longer then, until the door opened and Percy, Arthur, and Molly made their way through. Each of them looked like they had been crying. It seemed though, that the sight of the rest of her children congregated there made Molly break down again at the thought of the loss of Charlie, so she began sobbing almost as soon as she made it over the threshold of the door.

Harry couldn't stand to see Mrs. Weasley crying like that, so he looked at Ginny, who apparently couldn't stand it either, as she was looking at the wall beside Harry's bed. Bill had gotten up and led his mother to one of the vacant beds. Mr. Weasley followed. For a moment, Percy stood in the doorway, not knowing what to do. Eventually, Hermione patted a part of Ron's bed which neither her nor Ron were occupying, and Percy took the cue to sit down, avoiding Ron's gaze as he passed.

Mrs. Weasley quieted down a bit, but as no one else in the room was speaking, her sobbing was still quite audible, even though she had buried her face in Arthur's chest, apparently trying to shield her children from the sight of her crying. Still, everyone else's attention seemed to be completely absorbed in either watching Mrs. Weasley, or looking away from her.

Finally, Ginny spoke up. "I need to take a walk around the castle for a bit. Harry, would you come with me, please?"

Harry got up silently and followed Ginny toward the door. As they left the room, he heard Mrs. Weasley's voice tell them to be careful.

Harry and Ginny walked through the common room in silence. There were about ten students in there, but they all seemed to fall silent as Harry and Ginny passed by. Neville must have told them what had happened.

Once they had climbed out of the portrait hole and walked several steps, Ginny spoke up, "I'm sorry, I just couldn't stand it in there. Is that selfish of me?"

"How could that be selfish?" asked Harry, sincerely perplexed by the question.

"I dunno, it just seems like I should be there for my mother, for moral support," said Ginny.

"She'll be fine, eventually. And I'm not sure if she's really ready to talk to you guys about it yet anyway. And she's got plenty of moral support in there as it is," said Harry.

"I didn't mean to make you get up, though. I just needed someone to talk to," said Ginny.

"I don't mind walking. And I certainly don't mind you talking to me. Anything you need to talk about, ever, I'm here to listen. You know that," said Harry.

"Yeah," agreed Ginny. "Is it okay if I tell you something terrible I was thinking, then?"

"You can tell me anything," said Harry.

"Okay, well... just so you know, though, I'm not really evil, or anything, and I don't really mean it... I just... I feel so lonely right now. I don't want to keep anything secret, even my thoughts. I know that doesn't make sense, but it's how I feel," said Ginny.

"Life doesn't make sense," observed Harry. "You, however, actually do."

"Well, speaking of life not making sense. I just... Why _Charlie_? I mean, I understand that, with 9 people in the family, most of whom have fought personally with death-eaters, odds were that something bad was going to happen to one of us eventually. But... Well... the terrible thing I was thinking was wondering why it couldn't just be Percy, if one of my brothers had to die... I... I shouldn't've said that."

With the way Ginny ended her thought, she reminded Harry forcibly of how Hagrid had reacted first year, each time he realized he had just let something slip that gave Harry, Ron, and Hermione more knowledge of things they weren't allowed to know about.

"Look, you can say anything you want," said Harry again, feeling a bit redundant, but feeling also that repeating himself as many times as necessary was the least he could do for Ginny right now. "The last thing you have to worry about right now is me judging you, ok? I think if there's anything you want to say, it's important to get it off your chest. You're dealing with a lot of emotions right now, there's no reason to keep any bottled up inside."

Ginny nodded. "I need a hug again," she said, so they stopped beside a suit of armor so that Harry could oblige. When they let go of each other, Ginny said, "I have a feeling I'm going to need a lot of those over the next few days."

"Well... hugs, I can provide. And, if there's anything else you need, just let me know. I mean, I know how stupid and noble and trite that must sound, but I mean it. I'll do whatever I can."

Ginny bit her lip, which Harry thought was odd, but he wouldn't have to wonder about it for long. As they started walking again, Ginny said, "Can I ask you a stupid question?

"Well... that was kind of a stupid question in and of itself... Of course," said Harry.

"Well. This might come across sounding utterly selfish again, but... How long do you reckon before I'm allowed to smile again?" asked Ginny.

"What do you mean?" asked Harry.

"Well, I mean... I just think it'd be wrong to smile right now. Like, when you just said about how stupid and noble and trite you were being, I wanted to smile. Partly because of how stupid and noble and trite you really _did _sound, but also because of how sweet you were being. And also, back in the room, when Ron said about how he wasn't planning on crying anyway, so that Hermione wouldn't feel bad for crying... well, I almost laughed at that outright. Had to bite my lip, though, because it wouldn't have been appropriate. And, I mean, I figure the waiting period's probably about 24 hours or something, at least, but... I'm not sure I can go that long without smiling and not go insane," finished Ginny, talking faster and faster as she went on, as if she were self-conscious at how what she was saying might sound.

"I think... I think you're allowed to smile if you want to. I mean... I didn't know Charlie nearly as well as you did, but he always came across as really cheerful. I don't think he'd begrudge you any smiles," said Harry.

Ginny thought about it for a minute. "Yeah, I think maybe you're right. You know, I remember when I was really young... 5 or so, I think, a couple times when Mum was yelling at me, and I was upset, Charlie would be there to catch my eye and smile at me from behind Mum's back. Then I wasn't upset anymore." At this, Ginny allowed herself a little smile. "He really has... had... such a wonderful smile."

They walked around the corridors of the castle for about a couple of hours, with Ginny telling Harry stories that Ginny remembered about Charlie from when they were younger. They were all happy stories, and at various points during them, Ginny would smile, but there was a tinge of sadness behind each smile. Harry smiled too, at the appropriate points in the stories, but it was mostly just to be polite. He hoped she couldn't tell, though.

There were two or three more times along the way when Ginny asked Harry for a hug, but she didn't cry, even though Harry kept expecting her to. In a way, Harry was glad that she wasn't crying, because he knew that if he saw her cry right then, it would probably make him cry, too. But in another part of his mind, he reckoned it would be healthy in some way for Ginny to cry and get her feelings out. But he figured that would come about in time. And when it did, he would be there for her.

Once they got back to the common room, it was deserted except for Ron, Hermione, Fred, and George.

"You guys might want to stay down here," advised George. "They're having grown-up time up there, or something."

"And by grown-up time, we mean that Mum started crying again and Bill told us to leave," said Fred.

"We're not sure why he didn't make Percy leave too, but I kind of think he might be planning to beat Percy up while Mum has her face buried in Dad's shirt," explained George, smiling slightly.

"So... You guys think it's ok to smile, too?" asked Ginny tentatively.

"It's better than crying, anyway," said George. "Of course, you can cry if you need to," he added. "And I suppose you could, too, Ron. But just know that if you do, we'll lose what little respect we have for you."

"Would you tell him you're kidding?" asked Hermione rather irritably.

"I thought you didn't like us to lie?" asked Fred.

"I don't need to cry," said Ron, also somewhat irritable.

"Look, let's not get mad at each other right now," advised George.

"But, yeah, in all seriousness... I'd say if at any time during all this, you're lucky enough to feel like you can crack a smile, don't waste the opportunity," said Fred.

Harry's head started to spin a bit from hearing Fred say something so vaguely philosophical sounding.

"Anyway, before you two so rudely interrupted, we were talking about who we thought would be the next Minister of Magic, since from what Percy's been saying, I'd be surprised if Scrimgeour's alive by daybreak," said George.

"The reason we're talking about this, of course," said Fred, "is because we've heard enough about certain other topics tonight, and we feel that talking about the fact that the Minister of Magic is probably being tortured to death as we speak is less emotionally trying than continuing to talk about those certain other topics."

Harry nodded. "Probably an auror, this time, you reckon?" he asked.

"Might be a wise move... someone who would have been able to take out a few death-eaters if they came at him rather than depend on Percy to protect him..." agreed George.

"I don't know many aurors by name, though... This game's less fun if we can't guess names," said Fred.

"Can't be Shacklebolt," said Ron. "They need him here."

"And can't be Tonks, obviously," said Ginny.

"Doesn't really matter who it is, though," said Ron. "Since if they've got a brain in their head, they'll do what McGonagall tells them to, and if they don't, then we'll be taking our orders from McGonagall anyway, no matter what they say."

"Spoken like a true Gryffindor," congratulated George. "Ruined the game, though."

However, they found various other conversation topics as the night wore on, mostly to keep them from thinking about Charlie as much as possible. However, Charlie was the thought on everyone's mind until the time when they each started to fall asleep on various chairs and couches. Harry and Ginny were the last two awake, and Harry whispered to Ginny, "Look, if you want to take a walk later or anything, don't be afraid to wake me up, all right?"

Ginny nodded, then put her head on Harry's shoulder, falling asleep five minutes later.

But Ginny did not wake Harry up that night. He woke up once of his own accord, and when he did, he heard muffled sniffing coming from one of the other chairs, he thought probably the one Fred was occupying. Part of Harry wanted to try to comfort him, but he reckoned trying to do so would cause Fred more embarrassment than comfort.

The next morning, the six of them were awoken by the Gryffindor students who started to file through the common room. One of them informed Hermione that classes had been cancelled for that day, McGonagall having told the students that because of the all the excitement of the siege, the lessons probably wouldn't sink in anyway. Harry reckoned the real reason was because Scrimgeour had been kidnapped, but he reckoned McGonagall hadn't told the students that, perhaps reckoning the newspapers could tell them just as well as she could. The six of them evacuated the common room and went back up to the Seventh Year boys' dorm.

McGonagall came up to the dormitory to give the Weasleys, Harry, and Hermione some breakfast. Most of the morning passed rather awkwardly as the various members of the Weasley family and their friends tried unsuccessfully to comfort each other. There was no banter about whether or not it was ok to smile, or who would be the next Minister of Magic, since they didn't want to talk about such things in front of their mother, who they knew was more affected by the loss than any of them could possibly be.

It started snowing that morning, and once the Weasleys couldn't stand being cooped up in the little dorm room any longer, they broke into smaller groups and walked around the snow-covered grounds, taking care to avoid the students who were taking just as much care to avoid them.

Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny were walking along together when they spotted a piece of newspaper floating in a bit of wind. Hermione bent down to pick it up, and announced. "It's the front page of today's newspaper... Oh, no..."

"What?" asked Harry.

"Scrimgeour, they found him dead... this morning... in... oh _wow_."

"What?" asked Ron.

"Well... I think I know where the last Horcrux is..." said Hermione.

"What?" asked Ginny. "How could you possibly know that?"

"Well... they found Scrimgeour's corpse in an old abandoned wizarding settlement called Mens. Reputably, it was the town where Ravenclaw lived out the remainder of her life after leaving Hogwarts," said Hermione.

"But why does...? Oh..." said Ginny. "You reckon each of the hiding places so far have been at an important place for Voldemort, and the last one was also one that had to do with the heir in question. And killing a Minister of Magic at any particular place would automatically make it special to Voldemort, especially if it had a connection to one of the heirs."

"Why would they think to check an abandoned wizarding town for a corpse, though?" asked Harry.

"Well... actually... there's a muggle highway which runs through the town, which was made to be invisible to muggles," said Hermione, as she continued to read. "Thus, the muggles can't see the abandoned town, but they did see the strangely mangled corpse. They reported it to Muggle authorites, and Ministry agents naturally found out."

"Well..." said Ron, "you're probably right, then, about knowing where the Horcrux is. But, I think we should wait a couple days before we try to make any plans."

"Of course," said Hermione, hurriedly.

"Do you two mind if we split off here, for awhile?" asked Ron.

"Sure," said Ginny, understandingly.

Ginny and Harry walked for a little bit in silence, listening to the fresh snow under their shoes. Harry was a little bit worried that Ginny hadn't cried yet, even though he was almost sure that she wanted to. He didn't want her to repressing her emotions, but he still wasn't sure how to bring it up.

Eventually, he decided to just come out with it. "I've noticed you've still not cried," said Harry.

Ginny smiled slightly. "You're a sharp one, aren't you?" asked Ginny.

"Is there a reason? Or has it sort of still not hit you yet?" asked Harry.

"Well... no, it probably hasn't really hit me yet. It still doesn't seem real, and I don't think it will for awhile. I remember when Dumbledore died, I couldn't believe it for days, and he wasn't even family. I think this might take even longer. But I think it's sunk in enough that I could probably cry... I don't think that's why."

"But you do think there's a reason?" asked Harry.

"Ready to hear something stupid again?" asked Ginny.

"Always," affirmed Harry.

"Well... I remember when we were younger... Merlin this is going to sound dumb," said Ginny, but Harry thought he could already hear her voice starting to crack. He had a feeling that telling him the reason that she wasn't crying was going to be the thing which pushed her to cry after all. But, he wasn't going to stop her.

"It's okay, Ginny," Harry said, putting his hand on her shoulder.

"When I was really young, I remember Charlie always telling Fred and George and Ron how 'Weasley men don't cry.' You know, whenever they would fall off a broom or something. Well, anyway, when I was a little girl, I always wanted to fit in with my brothers... And I think that's why I always cried so much less than other girls... 'Cause I wanted to be like my brothers... I wanted to make Charlie proud... I wanted to be one of the Weasley men," she gave an odd little laugh that ended up as a sob.

They stopped, and Harry hugged her close. As the snow fell around them, Ginny buried her face in Harry's chest and cried.

A/N: Right, so... I'm really curious to see what people thought of this chapter. I hope it wasn't too depressing or too devoid of action, but I thought the complex emotional issues deserved a bit of time and attention. Hopefully I gave them a fair treatment. Anyway, there will be a return to more plot-related items in the next chapter, although I'm making no promises for when that will be posted. However, I still stand by my statement that the more reviews I get, the more likely I am to put off homework or other things I want/need to be doing, to work on fanfiction. The next chapter should probably be easier to write then this one, though, so it might be relatively soon. Please Review! Also, if anyone wants to beta for me, that'd be awesome. Oh, and... speaking of why I need a beta... when I'm reading my own work to proofread, since I know what it's supposed to say, it's hard to catch the odd little errors. To that end, thanks to "James Evans" who alerted me to the fact that at one point "Charlie seemed to awaken from the dead to comfort his mother about his own death" (I had to quote from the review, 'cause I thought it was amusing how he worded it). If anything like that happened again that I didn't notice, please let me know.


	21. The Plan

Chapter 21

The Plan

Classes resumed on Monday, but Hermione, Harry, Ginny, and Ron missed them to go to Charlie's funeral. The service was held in an odd-looking building on Diagon Alley that reminded Harry of a church, but only remotely. He supposed it made sense that a wizarding church, or whatever its wizarding equivalent was, wouldn't be exactly like the muggle variety. This wasn't the first time Harry had wondered about what the differences between Muggle and Wizard religion were, but he figured that, on the whole, now wasn't the correct time to ask.

There was a viewing before the service. When Ron saw the body, he cried for Charlie for what Harry was pretty sure was the first time. When he did, Hermione put her arm around him immediately, and George walked over and patted him comfortingly on the back. Fred and George might tease Ron from time to time, realized Harry, but when it really counted, they were there for him. Ginny and Harry also made their way over to Ron to try to comfort him, but by the time they got there, Ron was already trying to convince everyone that the wasn't _really _crying, but that something had simply gotten into his eye. From the look on Hermione's face, it was clear to Harry that she wished that Ron would just let his feelings out, but Harry reckoned that everyone had their own way of dealing with grief.

Mrs. Weasley, for instance, had been completely inconsolable for the first 24 hours, but after that she seemed able to tell amusing stories about Charlie's childhood and make sure the rest of her children were coping with the tragedy all right.

Bill had stuck around with the rest of the family for the whole time until it was clear that his mother had regained a bit of emotional composure, but then was missing in action for most of the day Saturday, taking long walks by himself, returning once in awhile just to make sure no one was worried about him.

Fleur had come too, after the first night, but seemed by Saturday to sense that Bill needed his space, so she spent most of the time doing her best to comfort Charlie's other siblings, especially Ginny, who didn't seem too thrilled with the idea of being comforted by Fleur.

Harry didn't see Mr. Weasley cry at all, but any time any of his kids got overly quiet for a long amount of time, he would ask them what they were thinking about and offer to take a walk with them to talk if they wanted to.

For a while, Percy didn't cry either, and for all of Saturday, Harry was pretty sure that he didn't look Fred, George, Ron, Ginny, or him in the eye. Then, Saturday night, when Fred, George, Hermione, Ron, Harry, and Ginny were sitting in the Gryffindor common room once all of the other students had gone to sleep, Percy came down and asked to talk to them.

Fred and George looked at him like they might just get up and walk away to prevent him from doing so, but Harry supposed they were too exhausted by the emotional turmoil of the past two days to fight with any of their brothers just then.

Percy stood in front of the rest of them, clearing his throat and starting as if he thought he was a politician giving a major speech. He said, "I know I've done a lot of stupid things since I've graduated from Hogwarts-"

"It didn't start then, you know," said Fred mercilessly, calling into question Harry's assessment that he didn't have the energy to fight with his brother. Perhaps that was exactly the reason why he had consented to hear him out.

Percy was silent for a moment. "Yeah, you're right," he admitted. "I guess I wanted power for as long as I can remember... Well, that's not true. I think it started about the summer before my Second Year. I remember Dad was working long shifts at work and he was stressed out all the time. I think that summer was when he lost most of his hair. Anyway, from what I could gather, he was trying to get some muggle-protection law passed. He was sure it was right, and that there was no reason not to pass it, but he couldn't do anything, because no one was listening to him. One night, I remember overhearing him and Mum talking as I was coming down the stairs to get a glass of water or something. Anyway, I stopped there on the steps so that I could hear what he was saying... I thought I could hear him crying a bit... And he kept saying about how no one _cared_, and he wished he could _make _them listen. I understood even then that if he were the Minister of Magic, he could get his bloody law passed, if that's what he wanted to do so bad. And then I determined that someday I'd be in a position where I could make people listen. I don't remember what I thought I was going to make people listen _to_, but I'd like to think that at first, I meant it to be for noble reasons, like the type of things Dad cared about. But eventually it turned out to be just for the power."

"Was that supposed to be an apology?" asked Fred incredulously.

Even Harry, who was trying to be generous to Percy, knowing that the past couple days had been just as tough on him as anyone else, had to admit to himself that he was pretty sure he had heard very similar speeches to Percy's on the muggle soaps that Aunt Petunia used to watch when he was younger.

"Well, no, the apology was what I was going to get to before you interrupted me and inspired that last tangent," said Percy somewhat irritably.

"Look, Percy, we know that you're only even acknowledging that we're your family because all of your sucking up to Scrimgeour over the past year was voided when he snuffed it. You've got no political leverage anymore, so you might as well talk to your embarrassing family because you've got no where else to fit in," said George.

"That's not true," said Percy calmly. "Scrmgeour has been talking me up to everyone in the past couple of months. I've got plenty of connections all throughout the Ministry, and no matter who turns out to be the next Minister, they'd want to use me for important things because over the past three years, I've proven that I'm committed to the Ministry above everything else in my life. There aren't too many people there who can say that, and I'm beginning to figure out why... You know, with what just happened, it gets you thinking... But, to be honest, that's not what first made me realize I was wrong."

"Wait..." said Ginny, seeming to be actively shocked. "You're actually saying you were wrong?" Had Fred, George, Percy, or Ron said it, what Ginny said would've sounded ridiculously sarcastic, but Ginny actually sounded sincerely hopeful.

"You'd better be sincere, then," said George skeptically. There was a bit of a threat in his voice as well, as if to say that no one better get his little sister's hopes up like that if they didn't intend to follow through.

"Well... Why don't you just give me a chance to finish my story, and then you can judge for yourself whether I'm sincere."

Seemingly, each member of the audience judged that the best way to signify their agreement with the plan would be to simply stay quiet, so that's what they did.

"Well, at any rate, when we at the Ministry heard that the Death-eaters were right outside Hogwarts, almost complete chaos ensued. Most people had already gone home for dinner. Of those of us who were still there, about a third were going straight to the battle field, another third started flooing to various places to find reinforcements, which was how Bill and Charlie got there. The other third were pacing around their offices trying to figure out how to deal with the political fall-out if the death-eaters did manage to get into Hogwarts again. See, people had been speculating for awhile that if Hogwarts was shut down, it would look like our side was admitting defeat, and would probably push a bunch of undecided people to the other side. Anyway, the upshot of all this was that, apparently, no one was watching the entrances. I don't know for sure, because I was running around the corridors trying to find Scrimgeour. See, I figured that if I could find Scrimgeour now, in one of his most stressful times, that would be a good political move for me... Sounds like a real Slytherin-move, I know, but I didn't realize that until a bit later. Anyway, when I entered the corridor with his office in it, I saw him duck into his office and close the door. I was heading there, but before I got there, I saw five death-eaters coming down the corridor. I froze where I was. They clearly had bigger concerns than me, because they paid me no mind except that one of them said, 'Just don't go doing anything noble.'" At this point, Harry noticed Percy's face flush slightly. "None of you will be surprised to hear that I had no problem complying with that request. So, I just waited until the death-eaters followed Scrimgeour into the room, and I pushed my ear to the door and listened, careful to be sure that they weren't going to catch me there, since I was pretty sure they wouldn't be as lenient this time as before. But I was so certain that they'd be more concerned with taking care of the Minister before trying to catch up with me that I felt safe enough to eavesdrop. Besides, I figured that, since I knew I couldn't take on five death-eaters myself, the next best thing I could do would be to be the one to bring the news of what had happened to the Minister. When I got to the door, I expected to hear Scrimgeour pleading for his life. However, I was surprised to hear a confident voice coming from the interior the room. 'I know you could use a friend in a high place. It would be excellent to have someone in such a high position to be on your side. Perhaps He-who-must-not-be-named heard of my Defense skills, and knew it would be no easy task to have someone put me under the Imperius curse. So he's sent you here to negotiate with me, yes? Well, I'll do whatever he wants. But I'm going to need a guarantee that I'll have a position of power in the new regime.'"

At this, Hermione gasped, although she was the only one. And, when thinking about it, Harry was sure that her reaction would have been more drastic a couple of years ago, if she had found out that the current Minister of Magic was completely unethical. Her gasp was mild enough to show that she had been desensitized by all she had found out about the Minister over the past year, but it still must have been easier for her to assume that he was simply incompetent rather than actually evil. Apparently, the Weasleys and Harry had no problem believing that he was evil on top of his general incompetence.

After a slight glance at Hermione, Percy continued. "Well, from what I told you guys, you won't be surprised to find out that's not what the Death-Eaters had in mind. Their answer was something to the effect of, 'Yes, but what the Dark Lord has in mind tonight is an important death. Unfortunately for you, the Dark Lord only really wants your body. Er. Your dead body, that is." I don't know why I remember that stupid little joke of theirs, but I think it might've been because I thought it was sick that they were joking with this guy while telling him he was going to die. But, the more important part was that I finally realized that Scrimgeour was a sneaky, spineless git who actually _deserved _to die. And that's when I realized I had chosen the wrong side, and that power was worth nothing if it was just pursued for its own ends. I know that it took me too long to figure that out, but now I have. And _since _I have, now I want to prove that I deserved to be in Gryffindor in the first place." And then with a look to his brothers and Ginny, he said, "And, of course, I guess I've got to prove too that I deserve to have the name 'Weasley' too. That might sound corny, but I mean it," explained Percy.

"Yeah, well..." said Fred, after he and George pursued an unusual moment of silence. "You _will _have to prove that you deserve that."

"But we won't stop you," added George.

"If you're good, eventually we might start talking to you again," added Fred.

"Other than now, we mean," said George.

"Of course, this doesn't count," said Fred. "We can't really be held responsible for our actions right now, considering that our brother finally basically just admitted he's been being a prat for years."

"Not that we're surprised that he _is _a prat, mind you, just that he's finally admitted it," clarified George, who was currently facing away from Percy, ostensibly talking to Ron.

And now, two days later, at the funeral, it seemed that Ginny, at least, had had almost enough time to forgive him. When Percy broke out crying, Ginny went over and gave him a hug. When she had finished with that, she started crying too. Harry went over and gave her a hug in turn. He had given up days ago trying to comfort Ginny with words, he knew there was nothing more for him to say. He could only be there for her, and wait until she had something to say.

"You need to take a walk?" Harry asked, quietly.

"No, I'm okay," said Ginny. "Besides, I think they're about to start letting people in to see him. Will you stand with me in the condolence-line?"

Harry nodded immediately, wasting hardly a second to wonder whether it was actually called a condolence-line. It might as well be, he reckoned.

The turnout was very good, apparently Charlie had known a lot of people, including, not surprisingly, many foreigners, with whom he had apparently worked. Some of them seemed to know only about enough English to say, "Charlie was a good and a brave man," which was convenient, as that was just about the gist of what everyone was saying anyway. During a break between people, Ginny whispered to Harry, "Do they think they're telling us anything we don't know?"

"I don't think so," said Harry. "But maybe they think it helps for you to know that they could see it too."

The prize for most unique condolence, however, Harry decided, went to Kingsley Shacklebolt, for what Harry overheard him saying to Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. "You know that all of us Aurors and faculty wish it had been one of us that had died, instead of someone so young. Your son was one of the bravest people I know, and that says something, considering the profession I'm in. And I think that I speak for all of us when I say that we'll strive to carry a bit of Charlie's bravery with us. May his life be a lesson for all of us."

Unlike at a Muggle funeral, there was no priest at the service, and there was no eulogy. Just a bunch of people stayed in the room where the body was being kept and talked to each other for a few hours. Harry and Ginny walked around and mingled with the crowd, finding that each person had a different story to tell about Charlie. Ginny really seemed to enjoy this, and to Harry, having everyone tell their own stories about Charlie to each other made more sense than someone trying to get up in front of the gathering and make a five minute eulogy on something so complex as a man's life.

In the world outside, Mad-eye Moody, as the most decorated ex-Auror still alive, was named the temporary Acting Minister of Magic. There was a slight argument about whether he was mentally competent to do the job, but it was generally recognized that with times how they were, it was best to have an Auror as the Minister. And all the other Aurors nominated Moody for the job, since he was respected most by his fellow-Aurors. Besides which, McGonagall vouched for him, and McGonagall's word was becoming more and more valuable these days, especially after she had helped the school to survive a siege safely.

Hermione, Rob, Harry, and Ginny decided that this was excellent news for there cause. It meant that the Ministry was now controlled by someone both competent and on their side. Plus, it meant that McGonagall could count on extra Auror support for important Order matters, considering that the Aurors would be ultimately answerable to Moody.

Monday night, the four students returned to Hogwarts, and the other Weasleys went back to their various homes. Neville, Seamus, and Dean returned to the dorm. One part of life was back to normal again, if only just the one.

Over the next couple of days, more things got back to normal as well. They started going to classes again, for one thing. For another, somewhat more importantly, in Harry's opinion, they began to pursue once again their usual past time of Horcrux hunting.

Hermione was somewhat disappointed to find that McGonagall had figured out where the new Horcrux was hidden only shortly after Hermione figured it out herself, so that it was old news by the time, a couple of days after Charlie's funeral, when Hermione, Harry, Ron, and Ginny went to McGonagall's office to tell her about it.

"Yes, the question is, of course, how we plan to get the Horcrux when it's obvious that, by now, Voldemort will have the place guarded," said McGonagall.

"Yes, that would tend to make things tricky, wouldn't it?" asked Ginny.

"And, we've also got to do our best not to give away that we know where the Horcrux _is_," said Harry. "If they know, they might up and move it."

"I think they already must know we know where it is," said Hermione, skeptically. "I mean, if you reckon they know we're the one's who've been taking all the rest, which they must, by now. After all, Voldemort may be into Dark magic, but that doesn't mean he's not bright on an intellectual level."

"This is no time for puns," contended Ron, slightly irritably.

"Wait a second," said Harry. "I think the real question is who they think is taking the Horcruxes. I mean, last time, they know we got back-up from Order Members, but they also probably know that we went in to look for the Horcrux by ourselves. Do you think that they're just trying to lure us there?" asked Harry.

"Possibly, but the Horcrux has got to be somewhere," said McGonagall. "And this is definitely our best hunch."

"I feel like the worst thing we could do at this point would be to do nothing," agreed Harry. "We might as well at least see if it is there, and then go back to the drawing board if it isn't."

"Isn't this a bit too dangerous?" asked Ginny. For a moment, it seemed that everyone was too stunned to actually answer the question. It wasn't like Ginny to ask whether something was too dangerous. But then, Harry reckoned that she must have already resigned herself to the fact that she would not be invited along on this adventure. This meant she was able to look at the question objectively and ask the strictly logical questions such as, "You realize you just conceded that you may very well be walking into a Death-Eater trap, and this doesn't seem to faze you at all."

"Well, we'd take the invisibility cloak, of course. So, if it turned out that we were outnumbered, we could go right back out the way we came," Harry pointed out.

"You know perfectly well you'd never turn around just because you were outnumbered," retorted Ginny.

"Fine, but it'd be easier to fight with an invisibility cloak than without it... Unless they've got about a dozen men down there, I bet we could hex all of them before they caught on to where the hexes were even coming from," replied Harry calmly.

Ginny seemed almost convinced.

Then Hermione spoke up, saying, "Maybe we can do something to try to lull the Death-eaters into a false sense of security. One of Voldemort's biggest downfalls to this point has been underestimating us. Maybe we can get him to do it again, and then maybe we'll be able to get the Horcrux."

Then they came up with a plan, doing their best to try to deceive the Death-eaters by playing on what they expected the Death-eaters thought of them, based mostly on what they reckoned Snape had reported to Voldemort about them.

They decided to send an owl to Lupin with the following message.

Dear Moony,

We know we shouldn't really be coming to you behind McGonagall's back, but we think it's time to take some action. We don't know how long it will be before the death-eaters attack our school again, and we need to be doing something constructive. As one of the Marauders, we know you'll recognize this even if that old bat McGonagall can't. We think we know where the new Horcrux is hidden. We're not telling McGonagall because if we tell her, she'll only try and stop us.

We're sure we're right about where it is, so we don't really _need_ your help, but we figured that you would want to be a part of that, and well... you were enough of a friend to my father that I think you deserve it. We know that you won't tell McGonagall the contents of this letter. Let's just say we know you well enough to know that you wouldn't want to miss a shot to help bring down Voldemort.

Anyway, our plan is to go to the place in Mens where Scrimgeour was found dead. We believe that is where the Horcrux is hidden. We will go on February 15, a Saturday, so that we are not missed from class.

Signed,

Harry Potter.

The plan was that the owl would be intercepted, then the Death-eaters would assume that they were going unprotected into the Horcrux's hiding place. They were enchanting the scroll in such a way that the name of anyone else that touched the scroll after it was enchanted would be visible to the intended recipient upon receipt, so they would know if it was really intercepted along the way or whether they would have to keep sending the letter over and over again.

Lupin would, of course, be informed of the actual plan by a more secure manner, as would the other people who would take part in the plan. They would have ten Order Members to accompany Ron, Hermione, and Harry. These visible and less-expected visitors, they hoped, would distract whatever guards the Death-eaters had on duty, so that Ron, Hermione, and Harry could run in and grab the Horcrux.

"Do you think there will be an obstacle-course this time?" asked Ron somewhat nervously when they got to this part of the plan.

"There might be," said Hermione, "but maybe not, considering that they probably just put this one in its place."

"Do you think that means this one hadn't been hidden before?" asked Harry.

"It's a possibility. Or maybe it isn't there at all. Perhaps they're just trying to draw us into a battle. If so, it's probably better to do it now, with us having the possibility of ambushing them by bringing more people than they expect," said McGonagall.

"But do you really think they'll be stupid enough to believe that we'd really send such an important message through owl post?" asked Ginny.

"I think Snape would be more amazed that I haven't injured myself by pointing my wand the wrong way on a hex yet. I don't think anything I did would be too stupid for Snape to believe I would do it. And Voldemort's got to be acting mostly on his intelligence, considering he knows the most about me. Voldemort only knows that I'm brave and fairly good at spells. He doesn't know I'm not stupid," said Harry.

"He knows Hermione's not stupid," pointed out Ginny.

"Yeah, but he's never paid too much attention to me. He would still assume that you were the leader of the group, and would probably assume that if you said something, we'd go with it. That's certainly how things go over in Voldemort's camp, anyway. Maybe they're so used to that that they won't think that's not how we do it here," responded Hermione.

"And anyway, it's worth a shot," said Harry.

"Still, I think we ought to wait at least a day or two before we actually send the letter. Then, even after that, we'll still have until February 15 to think of a better plan. Otherwise, these are probably the best battle terms we'll get. And with something so important as guarding the Horcrux, or even trying to capture Harry Potter, they'll have to have some of their top wizards and witches out there," said McGonagall.

They didn't come up with a better plan over the next couple days, so they sent the letter through owl post and started recruiting people for the mission.

A/N: Okay... well... at least one reviewer described last chapter as a "backwards-looking" chapter, which was an apt characterization. To the same extent, this one is more of a forward-looking chapter. But then, it's not really possible to have a ton of action in _every_ chapter, so hopefully you all can appreciate the set-up to the action as well. And it seems like at least some of you appreciate the times in between the action. I'm really grateful for the positive response to last chapter. I really put a lot into it, trying to bring out the emotions that I imagine the different characters might feel. I didn't like this chapter _quite_ as much, though I kind of liked Percy's recounting of what made him come back over to the side of Harry & co. Someone criticized the year six fiction I had for having Percy see the light too easily, so I got to wondering what it might actually take for him to do so... Hopefully, I've found it. Also, I'd like feedback on whether the plan the trio (plus Ginny) and McGonagall have worked out for retrieving the Horcrux seems like the sort of thing that they'd actually try to do. Sorry for the insane length of this author's note. Oh, and... sneak preview for next chapter... It's going to include Valentine's day, so... a bit more romance. I feel this story's gone pretty far in the romance direction, but it sort of feels like a logical progression... Anyway, if you've read this far, you've spent just as much time reading the author's note as you would reviewing, so please review. Thanks!


	22. Witches' Wine and St Valentine

Chapter 22

Witches' Wine and St. Valentine

With heightened tensions owing to the war, there had been no Hogsmeade weekends this year. Although Harry, Ron, and Hermione had enough homework to be doing that they might not have been able to attend very many Hogsmeade weekends anyway, by about a week and a half before Valentine's day, Ron and Harry were beginning to wonder how they would go about procuring their girlfriends' gifts for the upcoming holiday.

They were beginning to plan a Hogsmeade weekend of their own, on which they would just sneak off to the village themselves when a more appealing, or at least more interesting, option presented itself via owl-post. Fred and George had sent a letter to Ron inviting him and Harry to their joke-shop after close that Saturday (six days before Valentine's day) for a special Valentine's Day sale.

Figuring that a trip to Weasley's Wizards' Wheezes was always worthwhile, and that it would save the hassle of making sure they weren't seen by any professors who might be visiting Hogsmeade at the same time they were, Harry and Ron decided to accept the invitation.

So on Saturday night, after bidding Ginny and Hermione good-bye with the excuse that they were going to study in the library (a ruse which the girls no doubt saw through, but accepted in the Valentine's Day spirit), they snuck into the passage to Honeydukes via the statue of the hump-backed witch in the hallway. McGonagall had informed them that each of the passages to the school had been temporarily closed off at the non-school end, for security reasons, but they weren't intending to go the whole way through the tunnel. They waited until they had traveled far enough that they were pretty sure that they were out from under the grounds of Hogwarts, then apparated to Fred and George's store.

"Greetings," said George, who was arranging some boxes on a shelf.

"And salutations," agreed Fred, who was sweeping an area of the floor which was covered in something that looked suspiciously like peacock feathers.

"So what may we do for you boys this fine winter's evening?" asked George.

"Well, we were hoping you could help us with this transfiguration essay we've got for McGonagall," said Harry sarcastically, knowing that Fred and George knew just as well as he did what they were doing here.

"Hmmm... Well, of course, we've got plenty of products that could help you skive off class, if that's what you want to do. However, we were rather hoping to show off some of our more creative ideas for this Valentine's Day season," responded Fred.

"Yeah, sure, that sounds fine," said Ron. "But I'm not sure Hermione will really fancy any gift coming from a joke shop. No offense meant, of course."

"No offense taken, dear brother," replied George. "But we rather think you're mistaken. Given how popular the Valentine's holiday is with young Hogwarts students who compose our primary market, we knew we couldn't afford to do anything but pull out all the stops to create a number of female-approved Valentine's Day gifts. We've had them out on the floor since New Year's Day, plus we've started a mail-order program, so we've been doing quite a roaring business."

"Don't worry, though, mates, we've still got plenty left over for you," Fred assured them.

"So let's have a look, then, shall we?" asked Harry.

But at that moment, the door to the shop opened. Harry reached quickly for his wand, and noticed Ron do the same. Ever since Charlie's death, both Harry and Ron had been more tense than usual, as had Hermione and Ginny. But Harry noticed that Fred and George didn't reach for their wands when the door began to open, so he knew even before he saw Lupin enter the room that the visitor was an expected one.

"Hello, Harry. Hi, Ron," said Lupin, as he was unbuttoning his cloak.

"Hi," said Harry and Ron, each kind of wondering exactly what Lupin was doing there, although they were glad to see him all the same.

"How're you doing, Lupin?" asked George.

"Pretty good," replied Lupin. "And how are you all doing?"

"Very good," said Fred. "And, for these two, things are about to get even better, as we're just about to show them some gifts that will make this Valentine's Day go quite smoothly for them."

"Ah, well," said Lupin. "That could be interesting. Let's see them, then."

Ron and Harry were becoming more confused as to Lupin's purpose here, as he seemed to have no pressing business, but was content to simply stay and watch Harry and Ron be shown the merchandise.

Lupin seemed to catch on that Ron and Harry were confused, so he decided to clear things up for them. "I've taken to visiting Fred and George here rather often. With things as they are, most of my social interactions are with the werewolves I keep tabs on for the Order... Well, of course, I'm around Tonks a lot too, but... I don't want to spend too much time with her, or I might give her time to get bored of me. At any rate, I find that coming out to the joke-shop is refreshing for me. Fred and George actually remind me a bit of Sirius and James."

On that note, there was a silence in the air for a few moments.

But Fred and George, who were gifted at negotiating awkward silences, quickly flicked their wands in such a way as to clear a table in front of them and quickly fill it with several bottles and boxes.

"Is that wine?" asked Ron skeptically, eyeing the bottles.

"Not quite, although that's where we got the inspiration," answered Fred.

"You see, wine is supposed to be the most romantic drink, right?" asked George.

"I suppose so," said Harry. He remembered that on occasion Uncle Vernon had brought home some wine to share with Petunia. It made him grimace to think of the Dursleys being romantic.

"Well, what we did is take the alcohol out of the equation, and put in a potion that makes people more romantic," said Fred.

"And, of course, it tastes good, too," registered George.

"Quite a marketing slogan," opined Harry, "but what exactly do you mean by 'more romantic.'"

"Well, a lot of what it does is take away your inhibitions," said Fred.

"Much like alcohol," said George. "But, unlike alcohol, it's not the type of lost inhibitions that might result in unintended pregnancies. Which makes sense, considering that we're suggesting that you give one of these to our sister."

"The type of inhibition this gets rid of is the type that makes you not say all those little romantic things you think about your significant other that you don't say because you're afraid that if you do, you might vomit from over-sentimentality. And, it'll also increase that kind of sentimentality," said Fred.

"Sounds like the sort of thing that could be dangerous, if some girl who secretly likes you were to slip you some without you knowing," said Ron skeptically.

"No, it only encourages you to say things that you really feel but have been keeping hidden, or feel things that you've been pushing into your sub-conscious," George assured him.

"For instance, when I drank some during our testing-phase, I ended up writing some very embarrassing poetry for Angelina. It's a good thing our owl was already out on an errand that evening, or I would have been in a load of trouble. If you start sending a girl love-poetry, she'll never expect anything less," explained Fred.

"You two are dating now, then?" asked Harry.

"Yes, for about six months now," said Fred off-handedly.

"Do you really think we should get this, though?" asked Ron. "I mean, obviously, Hermione will have me drink some, and you just said that if you start getting all sentimental, your girlfriend might not want you to stop, so..."

"Yes, but you're supposed to be overly-sentimental on Valentine's Day anyway," said Fred. "This will just allow you to do it without making yourself want to throw up. Just, once the effects have worn off, try not to think about anything you said while you were drinking it. You'll hate yourself for it."

"Sounds like a blast," said Ron sarcastically. "But... Hermione will probably like it. How much for a bottle?"

"Seven Sickles, ordinarily. But we'll give it to you for four."

Ron started digging in his pocket. "What's in the boxes, then?" he asked.

"Different types of candy. Basically, they're enchanted to taste better than any kind of candy should have a right to," said George proudly.

"Anything with a cherry-center?" asked Ron. "Hermione likes cherries."

"Yes, we've got just the thing right here," said George.

"Okay, throw in a couple of boxes of that as well, then," said Ron.

"Comes to 9 sickles, then," said George.

Ron groaned, but overall, that wasn't too bad for Valentine's day shopping.

Harry ended up buying two packs of Canary Creams and a bottle of the wine-like drink, which Fred and George revealed was called "Witches' Wine" in spite of the lack of alcohol, mostly for the sake of onomatopoeia.

"Could we interest you in anything?" Fred asked Lupin.

"Thanks, but I've already done my Valentine's shopping for this year," said Remus in an oddly conspiratorial tone. He was silent for a moment. "Actually... Can you lot keep a secret?"

"Of course," said Harry, knowing that Remus knew full well that Ron and he had kept far bigger secrets than that of whatever it was that Remus had gotten Tonks for Valentine's Day.

"It wouldn't be very good company policy for us to go blabbing the secrets of one of our biggest customers," agreed Fred.

"Ok," said Remus, looking around nervously as if he thought Tonks might have snuck into the room unnoticed at some point during the previous conversation. "I think I'm going to propose to Tonks."

"On Valentine's Day?" asked Fred. "Well, you'll get style-points for that, I reckon."

"Yes, I hope so. I mean... I know it might seem rather soon, considering we've only started seeing each other at the beginning of this summer, but... Time seems to go slower in war time, I guess. Besides, I'm old enough as it is. There's no need to wait until I'm old and gray to get married," said Lupin with a laugh.

"Well, we will keep this secret, of course," said Harry. "But you know Ginny and Hermione would love to know about it... Girls are always so into this type of thing..."

"Yes, well... I don't want to tell too many people before I ask. You know, in case she says no. But, as soon as I have my answer, I'll write you lot," said Lupin.

"Sounds fair," said Harry. "Although I'm sure she'll say yes."

On that note, Harry and Ron apparated back into the passage on the way to Honeydukes, proud of themselves for getting their Valentine's Day shopping done so painlessly.

Over the next few days, the thoughts of Ginny, Harry, Hermione, and Ron were focused more on the upcoming mission to the old wizarding town where they thought the Horcrux might now be hidden than they were on the upcoming holiday.

But when the owl-post came on Friday the 14th, Hedwig was bearing a message from Lupin which helped all four of them to get into the Valentine's Day spirit rather quickly. Harry looked at the note first, figuring that it was about Lupin's proposal, and deciding that if it was not good news, he wouldn't show it to Ginny and Hermione.

But it read,

Dear Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny

My new fiancée and I are quite pleased to wish you all a very happy Valentine's Day, as we have certainly had a good one so far. You may be wondering how this owl managed to get to you so early in the day (I reckon Hedwig ought to make it there in time for breakfast). Tonight (that is to say, Thursday night), I ended up staying at Tonks' house rather late, and when I noticed it was past midnight, I decided that counted as Valentine's Day, and I knew I couldn't wait any longer. Anyway, I've got to get to bed, since I've got a meeting early in the morning tomorrow, or rather, today.

Signed,

Lupin and Tonks

As soon as he was done reading, Harry passed the note around the table, and each reader broke into a wide grin at about as soon as they started reading.

That start to the day made each of them a little more cheerful during classes, since they were all very happy for Tonks and Lupin.

That night, a couple hours after dinner, the four gathered in a corner of the common room to exchange their gifts.

When Harry opened the gift Ginny got for him, he saw that it was a small locket with a picture of the two of them together inside.

"I know you don't normally wear jewelry, but this isn't obnoxious or anything. You could wear it under your cloak and nobody would have to see it. It's just... there's been a bunch of times this year when I've wished I could've been with you, and... well, this was the best solution I could come up with. I know it sounds stupid, but..."

"No, it's nice," said Harry reassuringly.

"Oh, and also, it's got an enchantment on it that's supposed to take the edge off of any stress that the wearer is feeling. I looked up an enchantment for that because it occurred to me that... most of the situations I was just talking about were also rather stressful ones," said Ginny, obliged not to say exactly what she meant in case other people in the common room could hear.

"Hmm... I should be able to use that soon, won't I?" asked Harry.

Ron's gift from Hermione turned out to be season tickets to the Chudley Cannons. Harry imagined that they couldn't have been particularly hard for Hermione to procure, considering that Harry got the distinct impression that the Cannons weren't particularly popular and that there was probably more Cannons paraphernalia in Ron's bedroom than in the rest of England.

Still, Ron was quite pleased with the gift. "I got two, so that I can come with you, as well," explained Hermione.

"Thanks a lot," said Ron. "You two should probably open your gifts from us at the same time... They're... kind of similar, as it happens."

Harry had realized this, too, and hoped the girls wouldn't mind, although he figured they had at least gone to the trouble of making sure they got each of their girlfriends their favorite type of candy, so he figured it should be ok.

When Ginny opened the gift and saw the Witches' Wine, she got a sly sort of gleam in her eye that Harry later realized he should have paid more attention to.

"Oooh, my brothers told me about this," said Ginny excitedly.

"So, it's a good gift, then?" asked Harry hopefully.

"Yes, of course," said Ginny. "And the Canary Creams are excellent, too. You know how I adore them."

Hermione and Ginny exchanged an odd look that Harry couldn't quite place before Hermione also congratulated Ron on picking out a good gift, and commenting on how much she liked the chocolate-covered cherries.

"So. Reckon we should try some of this, then?" asked Ginny in an off-hand manner.

Harry looked around the common room, somewhat unsure of whether they should start drinking the concoction now, with so many people around, if it was really going to make him act as sentimental as Fred and George said it would. But it was so busy in the common room, with people exchanging gifts and generally being loud and festive that he figured none of them would notice even if he did start reciting love poetry to Ginny.

"Sounds good to me," said Hermione.

Ron too seemed reluctant. But then he said, "Why not? It's Valentine's Day, after-all."

"Good, I've got some goblets in my trunk," said Ginny. "I'll be right back."

"I wonder how it tastes," said Ron, eyeing the pink liquid inside the bottles.

"Well, they said it tasted pleasant, right?" said Harry.

"Well, yes, but I've learned through hard experience that it's often unwise to take my brothers at face-value when they say that something tastes pleasant," said Ron.

Hermione and Harry each grimaced sympathetically as they imagined just how that particular lesson may have been learned.

Soon, they had poured a decent amount of Witches' Wine into each cup and, after toasting St. Valentine, they each drank from their cups, Ron and Harry rather tentatively at first. However, it turned out that Fred and George were not lying about the taste. It tasted kind of like carbonated strawberries, which was more pleasant than it might immediately sound.

At any rate, they finished each of their first goblets at a leisurely pace as they conversed about how their various days had been. It seemed obvious that the effects had not yet taken place, and Harry wondered how long they would take to kick in.

When Ginny noticed Harry was done with his first cup, she moved in closer to him on the couch where they were sitting, put an arm around him and whispered conspiratorially into his ear, "I think me and you should go lay down outside and watch the stars."

Harry gave her a strange look as if her face had begun to sprout fur or something. "It's so _cold_ out, though," he objected.

"Yes, but there's this charm I learned recently that I could perform on a blanket that would keep the blanket all warm, so we could wrap ourselves in it and not be cold," she said eagerly.

It did sound like a rather pleasant idea, but he still wasn't relishing the idea of trudging through the snow. If she was looking for a spot to have a good snog, wouldn't it be much easier just to find a broom-closet somewhere?

His hesitancy must have shown on his face, because Ginny didn't even wait for him to answer before she shrugged cheerfully and said, "Never mind, it was a stupid idea anyway. Why don't you just have some more of this Witches' Wine, then?"

Harry figured that this much, at least, he could agree with. As Ginny and he each drank their second goblets, Harry thought that the effects of the potion must be taking their hold, as he stopped talking to Ron or Hermione and simply focused on Ginny, about whom he was starting to think shamelessly romantic thoughts. And strangely, by the time his goblet was emptied for the second time, he told Ginny that going out and watching the stars sounded like "a lovely idea after all."

Ginny grinned and whipsered, "I just knew you'd come around. Okay, you go get your invisibility cloak, I'll get some blankets to charm, and we'll meet back here and then we can go out. OK?"

"Of course, dear," said Harry.

"Only dear, eh?" asked Ginny skeptically. "Well, we'll have to work on that, won't we?"

Harry wasn't quite sure what she meant, but shrugged it off and went to get his invisibility cloak nonetheless. He shoved it under his cloak so that none of the people in the common room could see it. Several minutes later, he and Ginny met back in the common room, and he watched her as if hypnotized while she began to charm the blankets.

"You're so _good _at that," gushed Harry in irrational amazement as he reached out and began to rub her shoulder in what he imagined was a much more romantic gesture than it actually was.

Ginny giggled and continued about her work, saying only, "Yes, dear, I'm quite magical."

"Yes. You must be the _magicalest _witch in the world." said Harry, still overly enthralled. He was aware by this point that the effects of the Witches' Wine must have pretty well taken hold by now, but he didn't care. A quick survey of the common room told him that people were still too engrossed in their own conversations to hear any of the stupid things he had just said, and they would be going outside soon anyway. As his eyes fell on Hermione and Ron, he noticed that, for some reason, Ron was now kneeling on the floor massaging Hermione's feet. He watched this with vague amusement for about 2 seconds before deciding that he'd much rather focus on what Ginny was doing, so that's what he did.

In a moment, Ginny announced that she was finished. Even though it was only a couple of minutes before curfew, no one said anything as Harry and Ginny left through the portrait hole, Ginny carrying a blanket and a comforter while Harry carried a bottle of Witches' Wine and two goblets. They passed through a few corridors, then, after making sure no one was around to see, disappeared under the invisibility cloak.

"Here, put this on," said Ginny, moments later, when they had reached the entrance hall. She handed him the comforter. It didn't seem too warm when she handed it to him. For a moment, he almost doubted that the charm had worked, but the potion got the better of him and he decided that if Ginny said she had enchanted it, then this comforter was enchanted.

And when he stepped outside, this train of logic was proven correct as the comforter warmed up around him. "This was a really good idea you had, honey," said Harry seriously.

Ginny giggled. "Honey, huh? I'll take that as a step up... And thank you, it _was _a rather good idea, wasn't it?"

"Yes, it was really very swell," said Harry, nodding vigorously.

Ginny giggled again. He was so caught up in the realization of just how beautiful her giggle was to care that she was laughing at him. "Swell, you say?" asked Ginny. "Fred and George really _are _brilliant, aren't they?" she asked.

"Why are we talking about Fred and George? I want to talk about you," said Harry.

"Oh yeah?" asked Ginny, still amused. "And what would you like to say about me, then?"

"That you're beautiful, and pretty, and cute... And funny, and cute, and silly, but in a good way. And sweet," Harry answered. He had a vague realization that he wasn't making any sense, but in the light from the moon and the stars, as they walked through the grounds, he realized that his short little rant had made her smile. And that's all that mattered, wasn't it?

She turned around (she had been walking in front of him, leading the way to whatever stargazing spot she had in mind), and kissed him.

"Very, very sweet," said Harry, grinning, quite pleased by the kiss.

Eventually, a string of compliments from Harry to Ginny later, the couple had arrived at a spot by the frozen lake.

"I think we can take the invisibility cloak now," reasoned Ginny. "No one's going to be looking for us out here."

"All right, sweetie," Harry agreed.

Then, he watched as Ginny removed the blanket that was wrapped around her and placed it on the snow-covered ground. The snow didn't melt, but the blanket was still warm. Harry was amazed again by what an interesting charm his girlfriend had put on this blanket. Ginny removed her shoes and instructed Harry to do the same, then they both lay down on the small blanket, and spread the comforter out on top of them. Amazingly, they weren't cold, as the heat from the comforter managed to emanate to warm their faces as well.

"Let's have another drink, then, shall we?" asked Ginny, and consequently, they were presented with the challenge of drinking a goblet-full of liquid while still remaining under the covers for the most part. Somehow, though, they managed.

When they were finished, they snuggled close together under the light of the half moon and the stars.

"What would you like to talk about now, my little canary?" asked Harry, who had run out of terms of endearment with which to assail his girlfriend. In his Witch-Wine soaked head, there was some connection between Canary Creams and Ginny that he thought justified this nickname.

The way Ginny laughed suggested that the nickname was not quite justified. "Oh, that's too excellent. You're using that one from now on, I hope you know," she said. But then she continued, "What do I want to talk about? Well, just real quick, can I ask you something quite unrelated to all this?"

"Of course," said Harry.

"Well, you're not worried about tomorrow, are you?" she asked, almost nervously.

"Not anymore," he responded honestly. "Although I'm pretty sure I had been before we opened that bottle back in the common room... Should I be worried?"

"No, of course not," said Ginny hurriedly. "Don't worry about _anything_." He obeyed. Then Ginny continued, "Why don't we talk about what it will be like if we get married."

"What do you mean _if_?" asked Harry apprehensively.

"Oh, I'm sorry," she said sweetly. "I mean, _when _we get married, of course."

"Okay, then," said Harry happily. "When we get married, we can cuddle in bed each night just like this, and talk about everything that happened to each of us that day. Then, in the morning, whichever one of us wakes up first can wake up the other one with a kiss, like you did that night before Hermione, Ron, and I went to get the other Horcrux. Does that sound like a good idea?"

"It sounds like an excellent idea," said Ginny. "Do you think we'll have kids?"

"Yes, loads. I think big families are best. Like yours. Don't you think?" asked Harry.

"Yes," said Ginny with a grin. Then her face grew serious for a moment. "I do have one request, though. And, I'm not going to hold you to this, since you're in a right state right now, but you can think about this more when you haven't been ingesting anything from Fred and George's joke shop. Anyway, I think we should name our first boy after Charlie, okay?"

"Of course," said Harry. "And... I'm sure I'll say the same thing tomorrow."

"Okay," said Ginny. Then she shook her head. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have brought that up. It's just, well... you know, he's been on my mind a lot lately."

For some reason, Harry's mind had turned from the cheerful mood he had previously been in to a more somber mood, although his only point of concentration was still Ginny. "You know, you can talk to me about him any time you want. This isn't a bad time, or anything. I'm always here for you to talk to about whatever you want."

"Oh, Harry, I know," said Ginny. "But let's talk about cheerful things right now, it's Valentine's Day."

Harry sensed that she really meant it, and so he said, "D'you reckon the kids will take after you, with the red hair, or do you think they'll look more like me?"

They talked for about an hour about their future together, and eventually the conversation devolved into a snogging-session, which was nothing that either party was disappointed about. Eventually, they fell asleep in each other's arms.

Several hours later, Ginny was the first to wake up. She looked at her watch and noticed that it was about 15 minutes 'til sunrise. She woke Harry with a kiss.

Harry woke up, and looked around at his surroundings in a quite disoriented manner. For a moment, he wondered what in the world he was doing outside laying in the middle of the snow-covered grounds, but then his eyes fell on the half-drank bottle of Witches' Wine, and the entire night came flooding back to him.

"That's quite an interesting product your brothers came up with there, isn't it?" said Harry, wearing an embarrassed grin, the effects having now completely worn off.

"Yes, as always," said Ginny with a sly grin, as they gathered up their belongings and began to make their way up to the castle covered in the invisibility cloak.

"I'm beginning to get the distinct impression that their sales-pitch leaves a bit of honesty to be desired," said Harry. "They said anyone who drank the stuff would start spouting off romantic sayings... But I don't remember you babbling nearly so incoherently as I did."

"Yes, well, you should know better than to take two such notorious pranksters at their word. See, the wine only really affects men. And if you drink it, you're very open to any type of suggestion from the girl you love, and also will trip over yourself to compliment her in any way possible. If you can't think fast enough for that, then you still start spouting things out, which is, I believe, where the nickname "my little canary" came into play," said Ginny.

"Open to suggestion, eh?" asked Harry. "I suppose that would explain why Ron was massaging Hermione's feet when we left, then?"

"Yes, and why you spent the night sleeping under the stars even though you were skeptical at first. So. I don't suppose you'll be helping me to finish the rest of that bottle any time soon, will you?" Ginny asked with a sly grin.

"How 'bout this," suggested Harry, whose mind had begun to comprehend the fact that he was about to be off in search of the final Horcrux within the next several hours. "If we find the Horcrux, we can drink the rest of that bottle tonight, and I don't care if you end up taking me to the middle of the Forbidden Forest to spend the night."

Then, they approached the doors to the entrance hall. As they stepped inside the castle, they knew they could no longer talk about the Horcrux, but simply fret about it silently as they counted down the hours before he, Ron, and Hermione would go looking for it.

A/N: Hmmm... So... seriously... next chapter, there will be _plot _and stuff. But hey, I couldn't let Valentine's Day pass without something a little bit corny happening... Hopefully someone out there thought the "Witches' Wine" idea was as vaguely clever as I did... I'm currently on my reading period at school, which means I _ought _to be preparing for the end of this semester, but the more reviews I get, the more likely I am to procrastinate a bit longer, so... Please review!


	23. The StandOff

A/N: Wow... sorry the update took so long... Time's just been flying lately.

Chapter 23:

The Stand-Off

After breakfast, Harry, Hermione and Ron went up to McGonagall's office to prepare for the upcoming horcrux-hunt. Before they separated, Ginny wished them luck, gave Harry a quick kiss, and resigned herself to the fact that she wouldn't be able to concentrate on anything but her friends' safety for the next several hours.

When they reached McGonagall's office, she greeted them briskly, then said, "We'll go to the town awhile, then. We shall walk off the grounds so that we can apparate over there, unless you have any questions first."

There were really no questions to ask, since the plan was rather straight-forward. The members of the Order were to run distraction outside the house where Scrimgeour's body had been found. They were hoping to lure most of the Death-eaters who they assumed would be guarding the Horcrux out and into battle. Order members had already gone to the town to put a Disillusioning charm on the area, so that no muggle passerby would be able to see the battle which they were pretty certain would take place. Meanwhile, Harry, Ron, and Hermione would enter the building. None of the other Order Members, save Lupin, had been clued into this part of the plan, although Harry was not quite sure what McGonagall had told them the point of the battle was.

Once inside, the plan was that they would take on whatever guards were still posted there, then, if Voldemort had had time to put safeguards around this Horcrux, they would get by them as well. While they were pretty certain that they could get through whatever obstacle course Voldemort may have put in front of them, they rather hoped that he had not had time to put up defenses around it, since it had only been put in place about a month before.

When they made it off the Hogwarts grounds, McGonagall said, "Before we apparate, you three should get under the invisibility cloak, as we can only assume someone will be inside the house waiting for us. Once we're there, I won't be able to talk to you, lest we blow our cover. Allow me to go over the plan one more time. If people come out to give battle, you lot sneak into the building before the door closes. If that fails, shoot sparks into the air by the door, and I'll do my best to blast the door off in the course of the battle. Hopefully, no one else will be able to notice the sparks in the midst of a battle. If no one comes out to give battle, I'll remove myself from the other members of the Order, and we can discuss my back-up plans for getting you guys inside. Are you all ready, then?"

Harry, Ron, and Hermione nodded.

"Good," McGonagall said. "Let's get on with it, then. I'll have to carry you lot side-along, since I'm the only one who's been to the site before. So, if we could all just link hands..." They complied, and moments later, they were all standing within sight of the door to the house in which Scrimgeour was found dead.

Harry, Hermione, Ron, and McGonagall waited in tense silence for the other Order Members to get there. McGonagall was just close enough to the building that anyone inside would likely be able to see her, so the guards were probably just curious as to why a lone woman was standing in the area near their building.

They must have become more suspicious as the other Order Members began to arrive. The first two to arrive happened to be Tonks and Lupin. Upon seeing the engagement ring on Tonks' finger, McGonagall congratulated the pair on the engagement that had occurred only the previous day. It occurred to Harry that such a congratulation right before the beginning of the battle was one of the strangest symptoms of the war with Voldemort. One day, someone could be doing something perfectly normal and wonderful like getting engaged, and the next that same person could be preparing for a battle with Voldemort's henchmen.

Harry's thoughts were brought back to the problem at hand once the last of the expected members of the Order had arrived and they started to make their way toward the building.

Once the other Order Members had come to within about ten feet of the building, Harry, who had been stationed next to the door with Ron and Hermione, noticed the doorknob turn. Seven death-eaters filed out in rapid succession. Harry recognized some of these, including the last one, Crabbe (the elder). Harry, Ron, and Hermione, were getting ready to rush through the door as he closed it, except that they noticed that he let it hang open behind him. At first, Ron, Harry, and Hermione were amazed at this level of denseness even from Crabbe, but Harry, as he peered in the door making sure the way was clear, noticed that Lucius Malfoy was still in the room, heading toward the door. There was just enough time for Harry, Ron, and Hermione to get through the door before he made it there.

For just a moment, Harry found himself wondering what it must be doing to Draco to know that his father was out doing battle for the Dark Lord even though he and his mother had made a separate peace with the Order. Harry had not bothered to think about Draco much since Halloween, but seeing Lucius now made it almost impossible to avoid. He didn't exactly pity Draco at that moment, but he felt a certain connection to him for what was probably the first time ever. Harry knew what it was like to lose a father in battle, even if he couldn't actually remember losing his own. And Draco had to know that even if his father was not killed in battle, he would be facing a life sentence in Azkaban (although probably a Dementor-free version) if Voldemort eventually lost. Although Harry still hated Draco Malfoy as much as ever, he did have to admit to himself that he certainly did not envy him.

Once Malfoy closed the door, Ron, Harry, and Hermione, who had already made their way to a part of the floor where they would be out of Malfoy's way, stood still for a bit in order to allow their eyes to adjust to the dim light in the old house. They had agreed beforehand to remain silent, so as not to give away their position to anyone in the room until they started casting spells against them.

When their eyes did adjust, however, they were privy to quite an unexpected sight. First of all, although the three had been prepared to have to search a bit to find the Horcrux within the house, they were surprised to find it laying on a small table which had been placed in the center of the room. Stranger still was the fact that Harry did not see anyone else in the room. Strangest of all, perhaps, though fitting, was what the Horcrux turned out to be. Sitting on the table in the middle of the room was a quill, which Harry could only assume to be that of Ravenclaw.

It made sense, though. They had already known that there was one Horcrux which had not been made by the time Voldemort had been defeated the first time. The second to last one, it seemed, had been made between the time of the murder of Rowena Byzanti and the Potters, and apparently there had been no time to give it a proper hiding-place. It was open to question why there had not been time in the year two and a half years since Voldemort had been returned to his body, but Harry reckoned that trying to take over the world was rather a full-time job. And it must not have seemed too important to make sure that this Horcrux was hidden until Voldemort realized that his others were being picked off one by one.

But he obviously realized that now, which is why it didn't make any sense that he would leave this Horcrux so open to anyone who wanted to walk in and grab it, invisible or not.

It was at that point in his train of thought that Harry realized why no one else was visible in the room.

At about the same time that Harry felt either Ron or Hermione move under the cloak, he understood that the there were probably still guards in the room, but they had obviously also had the idea of hiding under an invisibility cloak.

Harry grabbed onto the arms of both Hermione and Ron, whom he could, of course, also not see. He communicated with his grasp (a tricky proposition, but one which Harry accomplished with a bit of a tug) that they ought not to go forward.

Harry's mind was reeling, as this scenario seemed to have been the only one that neither McGonagall, nor Harry, Hermione, or Ron, had come up with. In all fairness, the prospect Death-eaters under invisibility cloaks had played a smaller bit in the battles of the war to this point than might be expected. Invisibility cloaks were, after all, quite rare. But, Harry reckoned, at least one of the Death-eaters must have procured one with which to guard this room, because it made no sense at all that they would leave the Horcrux unguarded and presented invitingly on a table-top placed in the middle of the room.

Harry thought for a moment, then decided that they would have to leave. It would be dangerous, of course, since the opening of the door would give away their position. Their only hope would be to open the door quickly and jump through before anyone had a chance to hit them with a spell. Actually, the only really good option would be to apparate, but Harry expected that there would have been an anti-apparition charm put on the building, and a quick attempt, with his hands still on Ron and Hermione's shoulders, proved him correct. So, their only option was a quick and fairly uncoordinated (considering that he had not been able to communicate the plan to Ron and Hermione) dash for the door. Tugging on Ron and Hermione, Harry stepped toward the door, which the three of them had gotten about five steps away from in the course of their attempt to evade Lucius as he made his way through the door.

Harry was nervous enough, but then, about 3 steps from the door, someone managed to make a floorboard squeak. The three of them froze, unsure of whether such a noise was enough to give away their position. Freezing, it turned out, was the wrong move, as Harry noticed the light of the spell come almost immediately after the floorboard squeak. Guarding the house for as long as they had must have given the guards an opportunity to learn the house's peculiarities. Or maybe they had even enchanted the board on their own so that it would squeak whenever stepped on. But it didn't matter now, as the damage was done and their position given away.

The spell came from the doorway to the building, which, of course, meant that their escape plan wouldn't have worked splendidly under any circumstances. But now they were in real trouble, especially as Harry noticed the spell hit the position directly to his right, precisely where Ron was standing. From the blinding white light that the spell gave off, Harry expected that it was the petrificus totalus curse. Harry put a steadying arm on Ron's shoulder, hoping that doing so would prevent him from falling, and then took his arm away in order to put into action the plan which he had already determined would be the best thing to do if any of them were hit.

He jumped out from under the invisibility cloak, and took a few steps away from it as he quickly shot a spell at the person who he hoped was still in the doorway. It was an expelliarmus curse with as much force put behind it as he could muster, and as he hoped, the curse not only knocked the wand out of the hand of their attacker, but also dislodged the invisibility cloak, with the result that Harry was faced with the sight of a rather displeased looking Snape glaring at him from the doorway as he lunged toward his wand, which had rolled several steps away on the floor.

Harry, in turn, used his own wand and the "Accio" spell to summon the dropped wand toward him. As the wand touched his own hand, Harry allowed himself a quick smile, as it looked like the battle may already have been won.

But then, Harry heard Wormtail's voice utter the words "Petrificus Totalus," and he suddenly felt his body go stiff, dropping Snape's wand as well as his own.

Harry wanted to scream in frustration, but was prevented from doing so by the fact that he couldn't move his mouth. All he could do was wait to see who would make the next move. Oddly, it was Snape who next spoke, oddly calm for a wizard without a wand, saying, "Wait. We find ourselves, it seems, in a bit of conundrum. Obviously, any of us could easily kill one of our enemies right now. However, I want to make sure that we all understand the stakes before anyone goes doing anything reckless. I assume, of course, that Weasley and Granger are still standing under an invisibility cloak. I also assume that whichever one of them was _not _affected by my curse has cured the other of its effects, they have moved, and now they both have their wands trained on me, while Granger is no doubt paying attention in case Wormtail gives away his position again so that she can curse him instead. Naturally, Wormtail will have also moved, since neither Granger nor Weasley had a quick enough reaction to hit him the first time he fired, and his wand should currently be trained on the petrified Potter. And if either of you do anything to me, Potter will immediately be killed. Unfortunately for you, Potter will also be immediately killed if you don't let us get out of here with that quill over there. You may not be inclined to trust me that we will not kill Potter if you give us the quill, but you should not be surprised that I am the only one of the followers of the Dark Lord whom he has trusted enough to reveal the full significance of this quill. Therefore, I understand that keeping the quill safe will be more important to the Dark Lord even than the death of Potter himself. Thus, when I am sure you have understood the gravity of your situation, I will ask Wormtail to step out from beneath his cloak, and you will allow me to grab my wand. Then Wormtail and I will walk over the quill, and apparate with it. In case you are curious, incidentally, the anti-apparition curse we used is a selective one, which allows only certain people, including myself and Wormtail here, to get through. Once we leave, the three of you will be free to do whatever you see fit. I don't expect you to trust me enough to give away your positions, but I will assume that silence on your part for about ten seconds will indicate your compliance with my offer."

There was no noise in the room for quite awhile. Then, Snape told Wormtail to come out from beneath his invisibility cloak, and Wormtail did so. Snape bent down to pick up his wand. Much as Harry suspected, neither Ron nor Hermione made a move during this time, or, in fact, made any indication of their presence at all, as Wormtail, and now Snape as well, each had their wands trained on Harry.

Harry was quite stunned by the one-sided negotiation that had just taken place. However, it made tactical sense for both sides. Ron and Hermione could curse Snape, then would probably be able to find Wormtail's position and curse him after he killed Harry. And if Wormtail killed Harry first, then Ron would curse Snape, and Hermione would try to hit Wormtail. Even assuming that the curse failed to hit, Wormtail would have been unable to get out of the room with the Horcrux, since going over to pick it up and apparate with it would have allowed Hermione or Ron to hex him. However, Ron and Hermione would have been unable to get out with the Horcrux as well if Wormtail was still standing. Therefore, in order to kill Harry, Snape would have to sacrifice himself and possibly Wormtail and the Horcrux. Clearly, Snape believed that Voldemort would excuse him for letting Harry to escape under those circumstances. This made sense, especially since Harry reckoned that Voldemort probably wanted to keep Harry alive so that he could kill him himself for the propaganda value of the move.

Snape, therefore, had correctly seen that without arbitration, the situation would have come to a standstill. Harry was quite angry at the prospect of allowing Wormtail and Snape to get away with the Horcrux, but it did not seem that there was any other choice, especially since if Ron or Hermione did anything to resist, Harry would be killed. And admittedly, they might be able to find the Horcrux again. If Harry was killed, however, that would be much more of a permanent setback for the cause. Even assuming that the prophecy was worthless and Harry was not the only one who could kill Voldemort, the shot to morale to the side of decency would be plenty difficult to deal with.

Still, it made Harry practically seethe with fury that Snape was going to slip out once again from right under his nose. The thought of Snape being responsible for his parents' death compounded with his hate for Snape over the more recent death of Dumbledore. He was certain that he would have had no trouble at all casting the Avada Kedavra curse at that point. He was fairly certain he could have even tortured Snape with the Cruciatus curse first, and felt no qualms about it later. If he had been able to move, he reckoned he could have gotten off the killing curse, at least, before Wormtail managed to kill him in revenge. And with the amount of hate he was feeling for Snape right then, he might have found his own death a fair price to pay for the death of the hateful man standing in the doorframe.

Even through the haze of hate and anger, though, he was able to realize that he was probably pretty lucky that he had been taken out of the battle. He was pretty certain that once he got out of the room, he would be thankful that he was still alive, even if it meant that Snape got to live as well. But it was still with immeasurable resentment that Harry watched as Snape and Wormtail made their way over to the quill. After Snape grabbed the quill, the two disapparated.

After that happened, the room was completely silent for several seconds. Then, Harry heard Hermione mutter "Finite Incantatem" and he was able to move again.

"Damn," was the first word that he used his rediscovered verbal ability to utter. The first complete sentence turned out to be, "So d'you reckon they're still fighting out there?"

"Don't you think we ought to let them take care of that?" asked Hermione, still from underneath the invisibility cloak.

Harry didn't bother answering the question, because he was pretty sure that Hermione was absolutely right, but he couldn't stand being unable to make anyone pay for the fact that the Horcrux had just escaped from the very room that he was standing in. He was still feeling the hate that had overcome him when Snape was still in the room, and as he hastily exited the building, he reckoned that he would use the killing curse on someone in this battle. After all, that was what Moody had decreed in the aftermath of the outbreak from Azkaban less than two months before, and most of the Order had agreed with him. Few had probably assumed that Harry would be one of the people to carry out these orders, but that didn't make them any less valid.

In retrospect, Harry would later realize that it had been a stupid move to try to rush blindly into a battle, but one of the setbacks of the kind of hate that can fuel the Avada Kedavra curse is that it interferes with clear-thinking to a mind-boggling degree.

Luckily, however, by the time Harry made it outside, the only people still standing on the field were members of the Order. He did a quick count, and realized that it looked, in fact, as if all of them were still standing. This made sense, Harry realized, as the Death-eaters had been outnumbered from the beginning, and it seemed that their ruse had worked, at least to the extent that the death-eaters had not expected Hermione, Harry, and Ron to bring such an entourage.

However, Harry could see only two death-eaters lying on the former battle-field, so it seemed as if most had apparated away with their lives. Harry reckoned with some bare satisfaction that they would suffer for running from a battle. Harry wondered momentarily whether Snape and Wormtail would also be punished. They had gotten away with the Horcrux, yes, but they had not managed to bring Harry with them. But then, Harry reckoned that they couldn't get punished too bad, since Snape, if he was being honest about knowing what the Horcrux was, seemed to be the most logical person to continue guarding the Horcrux, most likely with the help of Wormtail.

Harry reckoned that once someone reached the point of involvement in Voldemort's inner-circle which Snape seemed to have done, there was little room for being demoted, since he would already know too much. Harry was fairly confident that the only options for Snape at this point were continued service in his presently privileged position, or death. And Harry grudgingly admitted to himself that Snape was probably too valuable to Voldemort's cause to kill at this point.

This was a realization which, on the whole, was fine by Harry, as it meant that he himself might still be the one to do the honors. With difficulty, Harry tore himself away from his morbid train of thought when he saw all the Order Members staring at him.

McGonagall was going to have to find some rather creative way to explain what Harry had just been doing inside the house from which a number of Death-Eaters had so recently emerged. But, it seemed like she would leave that duty for another time, as her primary concern seemed to be to find out just what had gone on in the building. She told the other members of the Order to stay where they were, and made her way alone over to Harry.

The first question out of her mouth, instead of being about the Horcrux, as Harry would have anticipated, was, "Where are Hermione and Ron? Are they okay?"

"Yes, they're fine," said Harry quickly. "But..." he paused for a moment to make sure no one else was in fact in ear-shot, "we lost the Horcrux. Snape and Wormtail got away with it."

Still, McGonagall sounded somewhat relieved when she said, "Yes, well, the important part is that you're all ok." Harry knew she was right, and also that he shouldn't be as surprised as he was that McGonagall's overall feeling seemed to be one of relief, not of frustration.

Of course, Harry was relieved that his friends were okay, too. But he was also very frustrated, since he had no idea how they would go about getting the last Horcrux now. But luckily, soon, somebody else would.

A/N: Ok... so... did this chapter remind anyone else of that scene in Pulp Fiction? You know, the one in the diner with the guns? Only in that, no one was invisible... And Snape wasn't involved... But still. Also... I'm going to _try _to update this week, considering that I go back to school net week, but I can't make any guarantees. Still, please review... It helps with inspiration.


	24. The Marauders' Map of the UK

A/N: Okay, just wanted to alert everyone to a change I made to a previous chapter: In chapter 21, McGonagall no longer suggests that they get two more invisibility cloaks before going into the building... Invisibility cloaks seem rare enough that this would be tough to do, and as you probably noticed, last chapter already has them going into the building with only one cloak. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter.

Chapter 24

The Marauders' Map of Great Britain

Two hours after returning to the castle after Snape and Wormtail escaped with the Horcrux, Harry was pacing aground the room of requirement. The room was almost empty, except for a couch on which Ron, Hermione, and Ginny were sitting. Harry assumed that the reason the rest of the room was clear was that the room knew that mostly what he had to do was pace, to release the excess energy he had. Of course, the actual reason they had come to this room instead of allowing Harry to pace around the common room was that they also felt they needed to talk about the Horcrux.

"You guys are sure that you don't want to have this conversation on broomsticks?" asked Harry.

"It's practically a blizzard outside, Harry," Ginny reminded him. The slight irritation in her voice was somewhat justified by the fact that this was the third time Harry had made the suggestion. And each time he had forgotten that it was snowing. It had actually been quite a shock, coming from Mens where the weather was clear, though cold, to Hogwarts, where it had started to snow quite heavily in their absence.

"Oh, right," said Harry, disappointed.

When Harry, Ron, and Hermione had arrived back in the Gryffindor Common Room after meeting with McGonagall to explain their failed mission in greater detail, Ginny had looked up from an essay that Harry reckoned she had been making no progress at all on, and jumped out of her seat to kiss Harry and give Ron and Hermione a warm hug apiece.

Harry looked around the common room and noticed, not much to his surprise, that they were getting a few odd looks. The people in the common room had seen Ginny wishing Harry, Hermione, and Ron good-bye just that morning, and now she was acting as if they hadn't seen each other for weeks. At about that same time, Ginny must have realized from the trio's various facial expressions (Harry's was angry, Ron's was disappointed, and Hermione's face looked as if she was working on a riddle) that something had gone wrong.

"What happened?" she asked in a hushed voice.

And that was when Harry had decided it was time to pay a visit to the room of requirement. Before leaving, however, Harry ran up to his room to grab Rowena's diary, deciding that she (Harry realized that he had a hard time distinguishing the journal from the person, given that the journal would probably be classified as more of an 'it') would probably want to know that Ravenclaw's quill had been used as a Horcrux.

Now they were in the room, with Harry pacing and Hermione holding the journal on her lap. Harry quickly explained to Ginny what had happened.

"You should have stayed in the building, you know," scolded Ginny. "It's going to be a pain for McGonagall to explain why you were in there in the first place, and you could've gotten hurt if the battle was still going on."

Harry was somewhat annoyed that she was scolding him, and retorted, "You would've done the same thing if you'd been in my position."

Ginny thought about that for a moment. "Probably only if one of you lot told me that it would be safer in the building," she stated.

Harry chuckled a bit in spite of himself. Well, at least Ginny had an accurate view of her own nature, then.

"Anyway, I know it was probably irresponsible, given that my presence in the battle probably would have done more harm than good, but I was just so angry," Harry stated.

"Yes, well. Snape does that to people, doesn't he?" contributed Ron.

"I guess the only thing for us to do now is figure out what to do next," said Ginny.

"Yeah, anybody have any bright ideas on that?" asked Harry, knowing it was quite a shot in the dark, especially since if someone _had _come up with an idea, they probably would have mentioned it by now.

"Do you think we ought to ask the journal?" asked Ron, without about the same amount of excitement as someone suggesting that he probably ought to be sentenced to death.

"I was thinking the same thing, actually," revealed Hermione. "I think that once we tell it that the quill is the final Horcrux, it might be able to tell us whether there are any other properties of the quill that might make it easier to find."

"I think it's a long-shot," said Harry skeptically, "but you might as well give it a go, right?"

"Do you want to be the one to write to it?" asked Hermione.

"Nah, you can go ahead, Hermione... You've always seemed to have an odd bond with that thing anyway," said Harry. At any rate, this plan of action would allow him to keep pacing around the room. Harry figured the only other time he had had nervous energy like this was before Quidditch games in years past. Of course, this was a different kind of nerves, since this came at the end of a failed mission rather than before an opportunity for success. Except it also wasn't quite like the disappointment after he lost a Quidditch game, or a battle, or anything like that, because it might still be possible to get the Horcrux back. They'd just have to figure out how.

Hermione started writing in the journal. A short time into writing, when Harry reckoned that she had only had time to write a couple of words, she stopped and said, "Wow."

"Wow, what?" asked Ginny in concern.

"It just interrupted me in mid-sentence. I didn't even know it could _do _that," said Hermione.

"What'd you write?" asked Harry, wondering whether the journal had become upset. Once again, it seemed weird to be considering the journal's feelings, but this was the kind of thing that Harry had been forced to get used to lately.

"I just said, "Since we just found out the final Horcrux is Ravenclaw's quill" and then she cut me off," said Hermione. "I guess actually it makes sense, though."

"Yeah, I guess so," said Harry. "What'd she write?"

"She's pretty angry... She wrote in all caps, 'that damn inbred murderous git,'" said Hermione.

It amused Harry somewhat that in spite of the fact that Rowena (or her journal, or her memory, or whatever exactly was writing) was so angry she could apparently come up with no more lethal insult than "git." He reckoned that that was one more way in which Rowena and Hermione were similar.

"I'm going to ask her whether she's really all that surprised," said Hermione.

"Does that really matter?" asked Harry.

"It does to Hermione," said Ron. "She's like, her hero, isn't she?"

Harry said, "Well... She'll answer no, no matter if she's surprised or not."

Hermione ignored all this and said, "Okay, so, she says she's not surprised... Also, she just said that she presumes we want to know if there's any way this will help us."

"If she _knows _what we're going to ask, why doesn't she answer our question instead of asking it?" asked Harry irritably.

Hermione had apparently been responding in the affirmative in the meanwhile, and soon she let out a groan.

"_That _doesn't sound good," Ginny stated.

"It's not," responded Hermione. "She says the only things that are magic about that quill are what she has already told us. There's nothing about it that can help us find it now."

"Well, if she can't help us anymore, she's just annoying," said Ron.

"Yeah... Harry, does this mean we can pitch it?" asked Ginny eagerly.

"No, we can't," said Hermione in an oddly offended tone. "It's got way too much magical value to just throw out. We should keep it until we win the war, then we can donate it to McDermott's Magical Museum."

"There's a magical museum?" asked Ginny.

"Does it ever embarrass you that we were born and raised in the magical world and still don't know as much about it as Hermione does?" asked Ron.

"It used to, but I got over that in the first week or so of first year," responded Ginny. "Anyway, I was just joking about pitching the journal." Harry was pretty sure that was a lie, but he decided not to interrupt, so Ginny continued. "I'll just be glad to not have to look at it anymore." Harry reckoned that that much at least was probably true.

"Well... if it means that much to you, you can take care of it until the war is over. Do you have any place you can put it where your roommate's won't come across it?" asked Harry.

Hermione was now wearing a facial expression that suggested that Christmas had come around again. "Yeah, I have a box that I enchanted so that it can only be opened by being touched by my finger, or transfigured into a glass container and broken."

Harry had a strong feeling that the only two people at the school who could do transfiguration that complex would be McGonagall and Hermione herself.

"Well, that should work then," said Harry. Then he asked, "Does anyone have any other ideas for how to track down the Horcrux?"

Nobody responded. A few minutes later, however, Hermione did say, "I think we ought to get back to the common room so we can start working on our homework."

Ron groaned. "Homework on a Saturday?" he asked irritably.

"We really need to. It's amazing we haven't fallen farther behind already, with all the concentration we've been putting on the Horcruxes lately," said Hermione.

"Yeah, but that's the point, isn't it?" asked Ron. "We just tried to chase down a Horcrux, don't we deserve a break?"

"I think we'll deserve a break when we actually _find_ the Horcrux," she rebutted.

Harry glared at her, but reckoned that on the whole, she was about on the mark. So, they went back to the common room and did homework for several hours, which, if nothing else, kept their minds off their failure of earlier that day.

For the next several weeks or, most of Harry's mental effort was divided between working on an inordinate amount of preparatory homework for the NEWTs and trying to stop his focus on Horcrux from getting to the point of an obsession. Unfortunately, whether it was an obsession or not, neither Ron, Harry, Hermione, or Ginny had come up with a solution for how to find the Horcrux by the time that mid-February turned into mid-March.

At breakfast on one morning in the third week of March, Harry became so frustrated by this fact that he ended up discussing the Horcrux, albeit in veiled language, in conversation with Hermione, Ron, and Ginny, in spite of the potential audience at the crowded table.

"So how're we going to find the quill?" asked Harry.

"I've been checking the newspapers," said Hermione, referring to her practice of checking the headlines to see if anything had happened in the magical world that would suggest that Voldemort had discovered a new place to hide his final Horcrux.

"Well _that's _pretty ridiculous, looking for quills in the newspaper. I'd look for them in a quill-shop," said Ginny, partially in case anyone was paying attention to their conversation, and partially just to be witty.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Oh, right, sorry Ginny, I must not have been paying attention to you."

"That's a bad strategy. Sometimes I say very clever things," she said.

"Got any for the present situation, then?" asked Harry hopefully.

"Well... Maybe you'd do better to stop thinking about the quill and start thinking about how to find the... bearer of the quill," said Ginny.

"The _bearer_ of the quill? Who talks like that?" asked Ron.

"And what are you talking about? Even assuming that we _do _know who's got the quill, it's not as if that really _gets_ us anywhere," said Harry.

Ginny thought for a moment. "Yeah... you're probably right."

And Harry was just about to get overly frustrated again when the post arrived and Hedwig brought him a roll of parchment.

"Who is it from?" asked Hermione curiously.

"I'd bet a sickle it's from Moony," said Harry quickly.

And indeed it was. But the content of the letter was somewhat unexpected, even though it was rather terse, revealing hardly any facts worth knowing, in case it was intercepted. However, it read:

_Dear Harry,_

_I have a plan you may be interested in. Meet me in McGonagall's office tonight after dinner. Bring Ron, Hermione, and Ginny._

_-Moony_

Harry passed the note around to Hermione, Ginny, and Ron, figuring that it would be unwise to state even the meager contents of the letter out loud.

"Well... my concentration for the day is pretty much gone at this point," said Harry. "Not going to be thinking about anything but this until after dinner."

"At least we've got Defense Against the Dark Arts this morning, and the afternoon free. If there's one class we can coast through it's DADA," Ron said.

"Lucky prats," said Ginny irritably. "I've got double potions."

"Ouch," responded Harry. "Good luck." And, as it was getting rather late, the four used that as their conversation-ender, and began to make their way off to classes.

Distracted as he was, Harry was actually hexed quite a few times when he and Neville were paired up for practice-dueling. Dueling was what a large portion of their defense classes were now devoted to. Under normal circumstances, this would've been fine by Harry. However, he reflected as he performed a "finite incantatem" on himself to get rid of the painful sores growing on his arms due to Neville's last curse that he enjoyed himself a lot more when he was concentrating enough to fend off Neville's attacks.

After Defense Against the Dark Arts, Harry, Ron, and Hermione tried to work on homework, but found it hard to make any progress. Grateful that Hermione had forced them to do the next day's homework ahead of time, they decided to play exploding snap instead, although they didn't pay much attention to _that _either, and many singed eye-brows resulted.

Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny were all extremely pleased when dinner was finished. Ron even managed to cut down on his normally immense appetite as a time-saving measure, once they noticed that McGonagall left the staff table earlier than usual, presumably in anticipation of their meeting. As they walked through the corridor toward McGonagall's office, Harry's overriding thought was that his plan had bloody well better be a good one.

Lupin and McGonagall were each waiting for them when they made it up to McGonagall's office and once they situated themselves, Lupin began to speak.

"This plan is going to sound crazy," he admitted. Harry reckoned that that might not be the best way to pitch a plan, but he continued listening anyway. "So I'm going to give a little bit of an introduction here. Professor McGonagall has told me what happened back there in the village, and I've been thinking for a long time about just where that leaves us. As far as I can gather, we know very little aside from that Snape and Wormtail have probably got the Horcrux. And, although you're not going to understand the significance of this right away, we can probably wager pretty safely that they have not left the United Kingdom. Do you agree?"

Hermione, Ron, Ginny, and Harry each nodded. McGonagall didn't bother to nod, and Harry reckoned that this was probably not the first time she had heard this plan.

They had no reason to believe that Wormtail and Snape were not in the country. There were plenty of places to hide in Great Britain. But Lupin certainly was right about them not understanding his meaning.

"I'm now going to give you all a short history lesson, but I guarantee this will be better than any of Binns' lessons. I've always been a bit disappointed that none of you have ever gotten around to asking me how exactly the Marauders' Map was created. For Harry and Ron, this is understandable, but Hermione, I would have thought you, at least, would show some interest."

He glanced meaningfully at Hermione. Harry did the same, and saw that she had an amazed expression on her face that indicated that she _already _knew why Lupin was lecturing about the Marauders' Map, or at least had a good guess.

"I kept myself from simply telling you all the story without you asking because I felt that would be too much like an old man retelling his childhood to kids who are, perhaps justifiably, uninterested. But now, as it will play a big part in the plan I'm about to outline, I will indulge myself." He smiled at them as he went on. "As you may have guessed, the Map was born largely out of the fact that we Marauders were the students who knew most about the Hogwarts grounds. As a matter of fact, we were doing respectably well sneaking through the corridors of Hogwarts even before we had gotten around to creating the map, but James decided that we couldn't allow our knowledge to leave the school with us. And the bit about being able to see who was walking down a corridor next to ours was, of course, a bonus."

Harry was interested to find out that it had been his father who had first come up with the idea of the Marauders' Map. In fact, Harry rather thought that there was a good deal which Lupin could tell him about his father, and he wondered for a moment why he had never asked him more questions about what the Marauders were like in school. He supposed he had probably just assumed that reliving those memories would be somehow painful for Lupin, since two of the Marauders had died, and the other had become a Death-Eater. But Lupin seemed to be rather enjoying himself as he told his story.

"Now, I don't mean to brag, but I'd always been a good bit better at charms than Sirius and Wormtail, and a bit better than James as well. So I was the one who ended up being responsible for most of the actual inventing of the charms that were used on the Map. Because, of course, enchanted cartography is not exactly the kind of thing that shows up in your standard spell-books. But I contrived, with a bit of help from James, a way to do it. First, we enchanted the parchment to give it a bit of our own personalities and intelligence. This was necessary not only so that we could write insulting comments back at Snape during your third year," he said with a glance at Harry, "but also so the paper would be able to... well... for lack of a better word 'remember' the places that we drew on it. We _also _incidentally, had to take the parchment around with us to each of the different places on the map after we drew it. The reasons why this was necessary are very complicated, and they took me the better part of the summer before my fifth year to figure out, so I'm not going to go into too much detail or we'll be here all night. Suffice it to say that in the end, the fact that we'd taken it around to all the places drawn on it explain why the map knows who's traveling down different corridors at different times. The question of how the map actually _recognizes _those people is even more complicated. But, my point is, I was able to do this back when I was in Hogwarts, and I'm confident that I could do a related, if somewhat more difficult, bit of map-making now."

"Are you saying...?" asked Hermione, trailing off.

"Yes, I think I ought to make a Marauders' Map of Great Britain," stated Lupin.

"_What_?" asked Ron.

Harry, who had used the Marauders' Map often enough to have become pretty well acquainted with it, had a rather more specific question. "The dots and writing and all are small enough with just the castle on the map. Wouldn't mapping out the entire country mean that the writing would be microscopic?"

"Given the complexity of the rest of the magic that this will require, adding a simple zoom function is really the least of my worries right now," said Lupin.

This made sense, but it wasn't long before Hermione followed up with a better thought-out question of her own. "But... You said you had to take the parchment with you throughout the entire castle. Does that mean that you're going to have to walk everywhere in Great Britain?"

"Not quite, luckily," answered Lupin. "I believe that the land I want to cover simply has to be within eyeshot for it to work. Close enough that people are visible. So my plan strongly involves an invisibility cloak and a broom, but it should be doable. It _is_ going to require a bit of a time commitment. I reckon that giving myself breaks for meals, sleep, and a bit of time with my fiancée, I should be able to get the map drawn within a bit over a month. But once that happens, we'll have a way to locate every witch and wizard in the United Kingdom. I will, for the sake of simplicity, leave muggles off the map. But that shouldn't matter."

"So, what are we going to do with the map once you make it?" asked Harry, although he was pretty sure he knew the answer.

"We'll use it to track down Snape and Wormtail. You, Hermione, and Ron, if you're up for it. And me as well, if you don't mind me tagging along," said Lupin.

"I would advise that you bring Lupin along with you," said McGonagall. "Although I wouldn't presume to make that decision for you. It's just, once you find them, it will be necessary to kill them, and none of you have demonstrated an ability to actually kill people with the killing curse. And, as always, we want to put off forcing you to demonstrate that ability for as long as possible. And, of course, having an extra wand along on a journey never hurts, especially in a situation so potentially dangerous."

Harry thought about it for a moment. It did seem rather odd, allowing Lupin to come to help them find the Horcrux. It had always seemed like that would be a job for the trio alone. But McGonagall had some valid points. And Lupin would be making the map, so Harry figured that he had the right to help use it. There was also the added point that it was only fitting to allow Lupin to help track down the men who had gotten Lily and James killed and gotten Sirius locked up in Azkaban for so many years.

"Yes, of course you can come," said Harry to Lupin.

"Great. So, it will be about a month and a half before the map is finished, and then there's a full moon to contend with, so I reckon that we ought to be able to track down the Horcrux by... mid-May, with any luck."

And now, suddenly, they had a plan once again.

After that, the next weeks passed by a bit easier. It was still hard not to think about the upcoming search for the Horcrux, but Lupin's plan sounded almost perfect, and they were going in with enough of a numerical advantage that it would be quite surprising if they didn't come out of this encounter with a Horcrux. And with the map, it was doubtful if it would even matter if Wormtail and Snape still had their invisibility cloaks when they were eventually cornered.

Besides, they had plenty to distract them from thinking about the Horcrux. Classes weren't getting any easier as NEWTS grew dangerously closer, and they'd continued holding Dumbledore's Army Meetings once a week.

But still, the upcoming task played a part in conversations once in a while, after the Common Room had been emptied and Hermione had cast a silencing spell on the stairways up to the dorm-rooms.

One such conversation started with an opinion set forth by Ginny.

"You know, I think McGonagall was right about it being useful to have as many wands as possible when you're chasing down Snape and Wormtail," said Ginny.

"Yeah, well, she's right a lot," said Ron, figuring there was no use denying this fact, although even he surely saw through Ginny's seemingly innocent statement.

"But you're still not coming with us," said Harry.

Ginny just glared. "You know, you could at least have the decency to let me _ask _the question before you shoot me down."

"Would that really make you feel better?" asked Harry skeptically.

"Probably not," admitted Ginny. "But, just so you know, I'm counting all these one-sided decisions you make during this war, and I'm going to use it against you once the war's done. I figure that by this time, you owe me _several _major decisions."

"That's pretty harsh, you know. I'm only doing this for your safety," Harry pointed out lightly, knowing there was no way he was going to win this battle, but not really caring considering that the important thing was that she at least wasn't going to fight him about not being allowed to come along with them and Lupin.

"Yes, and for _your _safety, you'll not argue with me when it comes time for me to make my payback decisions," said Ginny.

"Don't worry, mate," said Ron cheerfully. "I've been paying attention to my Mum and Dad arguing for years, and it seems like the guy never really gets to make decisions anyway."

"It's true," agreed Ginny. "The only reason I'm letting you make any decisions now is that it's rather difficult to argue with 'The Chosen One' during wartime."

"Point taken," said Harry.

The room quieted down for a bit. Then Hermione said, "Lupin's idea really is pretty brilliant, though, isn't it?"

"Yes," agreed Harry, "yes it is."

"I never really even thought about how smart Lupin really is. I mean, the Marauders' Map must have been really difficult to make..."

"Well, he _was _a professor," said Ginny. "You'd expect him to be smart, wouldn't you?"

"Yeah, but Lockhart was a Professor, too. And Trelawney still _is_. Frankly, I'm not sure whether that says anything," registered Ron.

"Point taken," responded Ginny.

"I'll just be glad when we've finally got the Horcrux in our hands," said Harry.

"I won't," pointed out Ginny.

"Why not?" asked Harry, surprised.

"Because _then _the next step will be for you to face Voldemort. And that kind of scares me," admitted Ginny.

"Ah," said Harry. Of course, he had thought before about the problem of facing Voldemort. But it hadn't been on his mind just then. He'd been managing to take this basically step by step and he rather wished Ginny would have continued to let him do so.

But whether or not they were really ready for the final Horcrux to be found, the beginning of May came around according to schedule, and on the second Saturday morning in May, McGonagall summoned Ginny, Harry, Ron, and Hermione to her office after breakfast.

Lupin was there waiting for them as well, and he had in front of him a rather large piece of parchment. Half of the sheet was filled with a map of the United Kingdom, while the other half was, for some reason, blank.

"Take a seat, and I'll explain to you how the map works," said Lupin proudly.

Hermione was quite excited to see how it worked, and Ron, Harry, and Ginny were also rather interested.

"As you can see, you are able to see some dots on the map already, but of course, in highly populated areas, at this distance, they overlap each other," explained Lupin. "But I can take care of that by zooming in." He got out an un-inked quill from his pocket. "In order to do that, all I do is draw a rectangle around the spot on the map that I want to be magnified." He demonstrated by drawing a small square around the part of the map where London was located, which was basically represented by a mass of about a hundred overlapping dots. "So here is a map of London," explained Lupin, motioning to the now-occupied second half of the parchment. "Of course, many of the dots still overlap, so we're going to zoom in closer."

He drew a rectangle around a section of the map of London, and the map of London was replaced by another map. "And now we've got a map of Diagon alley. Now, this brings me to one of the small shortfalls of the map. You see, just as we Marauders had to travel through each hallway and classroom of Hogwarts to get it to show up on the map, I needed to take the parchment into any building which I wanted to be properly charted. Now, I did walk it through each of the buildings that have the highest traffic of magical people, but, of course, there are still very many places that I was not able to travel. The buildings themselves still show up on the map, since the map 'knows' they're there from the bird's-eye view it got of them during our flyovers. However, when a person goes into an uncharted building, the map loses track of them. Using the small bit of conjectural ability that I have endowed it with, the map will assume that a person is in any building which that person has walked into, until they show up on a charted part of the map again. But of course, this causes an obvious problem when people apparate from inside one uncharted building into another uncharted building. It causes an even bigger problem if the person disapparates from a charted part of the map to an uncharted part. If _that _happens, they disappear from the map completely. This happens more often than we would like, as you can see here."

He used the un-inked quill to write something on a corner of the parchment. "I'm writing 'uncharted people,'" he explained. When he stopped writing the map of Diagon Alley was replaced with a list that appeared to be about 75 names long. "It's in alphabetical order by last name, for the sake of convenience," pointed out Lupin, who was seemingly pretty proud of this feature.

Harry quickly scanned the list for the place where the name "Snape" would turn up. It wasn't there. Nor was the name Pettigrew. "I see that Snape and Wormtail are still on the map," registered Harry.

"Yes, fortunately for us, they're on a part of the map that has no buildings and is therefore basically fully charted. Unfortunately for us, it's in a rather unsavory part of Scotland. It's a forest, and it's called the Neglected Northlands. Basically, it's like the Forbidden Forest, but for all of Great Britain, instead of just for Hogwarts."

A/N: All right... so, there's another one... two chapters in one week. Not bad, if you ask me... And, now the chapters are getting rather easier to become inspired for, considering that I'm getting so near the end. However, as always, reviews still help to get chapters up faster, and I was a rather disappointed that I only got one review for last chapter... By the way, special thanks to Wolf's Scream for reviewing last chapter, I really appreciate your consistent effort to review. To answer the question you posed in the review: I am operating under the assumption that Snape would have to see his victim to attempt Legilimancy.


	25. The Neglected Northlands

Chapter 25

The Neglected Northlands

There was a bit of silence after that. None of them had been quite sure where they were _expecting _to have to find Snape and Wormtail, but they certainly hadn't expected this.

"Like the Forbidden Forest?" asked Harry skeptically.

"Well... Not _exactly _like, of course," Lupin explained. "For example, there's a few less unicorns, and quite a bit more territory."

"Well... You know, I never quite had a problem with the unicorns, exactly," registered Ron. "How's it compare in the department of 'spiders that want to eat me'?"

Lupin thought for a moment. "I do believe there's a small colony of those in the Northwest Corner of the forest somewhere."

"_Really_?" asked Ron with a bit of a cringe.

"Yeah, but don't worry about them," said Lupin comfortingly. "It's not as if Snape and Wormtail would fare any better than we would with creatures like that, so they won't go into that area. Currently, they're comfortably positioned in the Southeastern portion of the forest."

"Well, that's good, at least," said Ron.

"I don't suppose we could just apparate there, though, can we?" asked Hermione.

"No, unfortunately just flying over the forest hasn't given me a clear enough picture of what it looks like to be able to apparate there. In fact, I don't have a very good idea of any of the surrounding areas, either. So it would appear that this will be a more of a broomstick-scenario."

Both Ron and Harry's faces immediately brightened.

"There's not enough invisibility cloaks for all of us, so we're going to have to go at night and fly high until we get over the forest, and we'll have to land far enough away from the gits so that they can't see us, but overall, it should be fun," said Lupin with a bit of a grin.

"Beats apparating, definitely," said Ron excitedly.

"For you lot, maybe," grumbled Hermione. It wasn't that she _hated _flying or anything, she just didn't relish it particularly. Especially since they were talking about what promised to be a rather long ride during the night which, in spite of the fact that it was April, would still get rather nippy, especially at high altitudes.

"Oh, come on, don't be all sour," urged Ron. "At least it means you'll get to see Harry and I being very happy."

"It's been entirely too long since I've been on a broom," agreed Harry.

"Which night are we going?" asked Hermione.

"Well, tonight's as good as any, considering that it means the first day you'll miss will be a Sunday. We could be out tracking them for more than a day, though, depending on whether they keep on the move once we land. So, you lot might have to miss a couple of days of class," said Lupin.

"This is starting to sound like quite a camping trip," said Ron. He thought for a moment. "Have we got a tent?"

Lupin chuckled. "Yes, but just one. It's enchanted, though, so we should have enough space. It still might get a bit cold at night, though."

"Sleeping in the same tent, are you?" asked Ginny skeptically. "You and Hermione better behave yourselves," she teased.

"Really," said Lupin. "For all our sakes. Remember, it's just the one tent."

"Don't worry about the cold, though," said Ginny. "I learned this charm that can be used to make a blanket self-heating."

Harry thought back to the last time she had used that charm, Valentine's Day night. "It works quite well," chimed in Harry.

Ron shot Harry a glare, "No, no, nothing like that. It was the night of the Witches' Wine fiasco."

Ron blushed a bit, apparently remembering that night all too vividly. Meanwhile, Ginny and Hermione grinned at each other.

After she was finished grinning, however, Hermione's facial expression transitioned seamlessly into a frown. "I really don't relish missing class, though. I mean, I understand this is more important and everything, but... Rubbish! I'll talk to MacMillan tonight and make sure he takes good notes on Monday so I can look over them... I mean, so _we_ can look over them," Hermione revised, looking at Ron and Harry.

"That sounds like it'll be lovely," said Harry sarcastically, thinking that he was looking forward more to the upcoming Horcrux-themed camping trip than another late-night study-session with Hermione and Ron.

"At any rate, my advice to you all would be to take the day off, and Harry, Hermione, and Ron should meet me back here at 8:00. After that, I'll take you to a place about a hundred-fifty kilometers from the forest, and we'll fly in from there. The flight should take less than two hours," said Lupin.

"Now, just so we're clear," said Ron, "you are suggesting a day _off_, right? Like, no homework, and no studying, correct?"

"I think you lot can afford it," said Lupin with a grin. "We're going to have a rough day, at least, ahead of us. A bit of relaxation first can't hurt. And, Hermione, if it makes you feel any better, I'll be sure to quiz you lot on DADA as we're trudging through the woods."

"I'm not sure you realize what you're getting yourself into," cautioned Ron. After that, the meeting was adjourned.

Ginny and Harry spent their day largely in taking a long walk around the Hogwarts grounds to take advantage of the warm weather.

They talked about many things, and for a long time, both seemed to avoid the topic of the upcoming trip. But finally Harry brought it up, after glancing around to make sure that no one was in earshot. He realized that no longer having to be so guarded with what he said in certain circumstances might be one of the things he was looking forward to most when the war was over. That and no longer having to live with the creeping knowledge that there were usually at least several people actively trying to get him killed. At any rate, he said, "So, do you think we'll catch them?"

"Of course," said Ginny, squeezing his hand, which she had been holding for quite awhile.

"Me too, of course," said Harry, grinning sheepishly. "I just wanted to make sure you thought so too."

"You really want my opinion?" asked Ginny.

Harry was caught somewhat off guard, but still responded, "Definitely."

"Well... It almost seems too easy. And I know that shouldn't make me nervous, but... Well, so little has been easy lately, it's just... creepy, almost. Do I sound crazy?" she asked.

"Kind of, but it's justified by circumstances, so don't worry about it," said Harry, smiling.

"Well, good then. Also... I don't know. It seems wrong to me that Lupin's going to be there. I mean... I know it's good that he will be and all, it's just... I can't even explain it. It gives me a bad feeling."

Harry narrowed his eyes. "He wants to come, though, and I wouldn't feel right telling him no. Besides, I think he feels it's somewhat his responsibility to help deal with Wormtail and Snape."

"Well... It's just... This probably sounds odd coming from an outside perspective, but... You guys are the Golden Trio, you know?"

"Yes, I've heard the term before," said Harry with a bit of a laugh.

"Well... It just seems that the three of you together can take on pretty much anything. I'm just concerned that adding another person might change things somehow," said Ginny.

"Well, now you _do _sound a bit out of your mind," said Harry. Ginny looked a bit hurt for a moment. "Don't get me wrong," he corrected himself. "I don't mean that I'm not taking you seriously, it's just, I can't tell Lupin something like that, you know? And besides, where was this 'Golden Trio' theory when you were asking to come?"

To Harry's relief, Ginny laughed. "I was rather hoping you wouldn't bring that up. You're right, though, I suppose. I know I'm just being silly. It's not like I care much for Divination or anything, and that's not even what this is, it's just a feeling. But it's probably just nerves about knowing that you're putting yourself into danger again. Not that it can be helped, of course," she specified, to preempt any statement to that effect by Harry.

Harry smiled again. "I'm glad that you're so understanding. But I do hope we're not gone for too long. I'll miss you."

"How could you help it?" asked Ginny with a sly smile.

Harry found it was quite convenient that they had reached a pausing point in the conversation, because at that moment, with that cute little smile on her face, she looked so beautiful that he couldn't help but kiss her. At that point in the conversation they sat down in the grass behind the castle for an impromptu snogging session.

After what seemed to Harry like much too short a time, he heard Ginny's stomach grumble. "Cue for dinner, you think?" asked Harry hesitantly, not particularly wanting to get up.

"Could be. I mean... the snogging is wonderful, of course, but... you know what they say... 'Woman can't live on kisses alone,'" she said.

"Who on _Earth_ says that?" Harry asked.

"Well... I might start now... I thought it was rather clever," said Ginny with a smile.

"All right, come on, then," said Harry, jumping up so he could help her up as well. He reckoned that it was a bit of a tribute to their relationship that Ginny didn't mind Harry making those kind of stupid chivalrous gestures for her. He wasn't sure that Dean could've gotten away with the same. He was glad that he could, though, because he rather enjoyed being nice to her like that.

"I _really _hope we're back by Monday," said Harry, as they began to walk back to the castle.

"Me too, Harry, me too," said Ginny.

A few hours later Harrry, Lupin, Ron, and Hermione once again met up in McGonagall's office. McGonagall, of course, was there as well, and she surveyed them from behind her desk.

"I'm fairly certain this will be one of your more simple missions, especially with Lupin along to keep you out of trouble with the local... wildlife... in the forest, but... Well, good luck," she finished somewhat awkwardly. Harry reckoned that this was McGonagall's way of telling them that she was worried about them. She never had been great at showing her emotions.

"So. Shall we be off, then?" asked Lupin in a conversational tone.

They had been carrying their broomsticks through the hallways in the first place, with Hermione borrowing one from the school. Now Lupin was walking with them carrying a broomstick of his own. If anyone encountered them coming down the corridors like that, they would assume they were mad. But Harry, and apparently McGonagall as well, was of the opinion that if all the other students were able to guess was that Harry, Ron, and Hermione were randomly leaving the castle at night, they were in a rather good position. Besides, there had been several other aspects of their Horcrux hunt that had been rather impossible to hide, such as the fact that Harry now always walked around with a glove on to cover his hand which had been maimed several months before. The other students at Hogwarts no doubt had come to expect such strange behavior from Harry and his closest friends. They must instinctively have known better than to pry too deep into the reasons for these eccentricities, but Harry was sure that there must be quite a rumor mill flourishing to make up for the lack of actual knowledge on the matter.

"It's good that you all brought your cloaks," said Lupin, surveying them, as they stepped out of the castle. "It's still warm on the ground, but you'll be glad for the warmth once we're zipping along at high altitudes."

"Yeah," said Ron. "Hermione made us. We've also got Ginny's enchanted blankets packed in our bags," he said, motioning to his satchel. "Would you like yours awhile, in case you get cold on your broom?"

"Sure," agreed Lupin, so Ron began to dig in his bag to find Lupin's blanket.

Several minutes later they were off the grounds so that they were able to apparate. Once they did, Ron, Harry, and Hermione spent a little bit of time glancing around to try to figure out where they might have ended up. It turned out that they were, approximately, in the middle of nowhere.

"It's best not to take off in a residential area," Lupin pointed out.

"Makes sense," agreed Harry.

"At any rate, we need to go generally toward the Northeast," said Lupin as he removed a compass from his pocket. "But all you really need to do is follow me. And, er... Ron and Harry, I rather expect that you might find it necessary to follow in a less than straight line, but... just make sure not to get any lower to the ground than I stay, all right? If you need to do any dives or anything, just climb above me first, all right?"

"That should work," agreed Ron, grinning at Harry. Then he revealed. "Er, I _may_ have brought a quaffle."

Lupin practically roared with laughter, and Harry looked at Ron somewhat amazed.

"How'd you get hold of a quaffle?" he asked.

"Well, Fred and George sell them at their shop. Hermione let me sneak out and buy one today after we found out we'd be flying," he said.

"Just... don't drop it on anyone," said Lupin cautiously.

"Of course not," said Ron and Harry in unison.

Harry and Ron quite enjoyed themselves on the flight over to the forest, and Hermione, watching her boyfriend and her best friend having so much fun, could not help but have a bit of a good time herself. She even caught the quaffle herself a few times.

As they began to come in sight of an unnecessarily large number of trees that Harry could only assume comprised the Neglected Northlands, Lupin flew back to them to warn them to expect to come in for a landing soon. And, sure enough, Lupin soon began to lower his broom to the ground, in a clearing surrounded by a bunch of trees.

By the time the trio had gathered around him, Lupin had pulled out the Marauders Map of the United Kingdom and was looking at it with his lighted wand. "Snape and Wormtail seem to be in the same spot they were when we left, so they must have stopped for the night. And, given the fact that I'm tired enough that I'm afraid my reaction time might have been compromised, I think we should follow their lead, there. We'll try to wake up before them in the morning, and go longer than them... I was watching them today, and they don't seem to be in any particular hurry to get to where they're going. Assuming that they're doing anything except hiking to pass the time. I must say that I rather doubt that's what's going on, though. I've never known Snape to be much of the out-doorsy type."

"Well, sleep sounds fine to me," said Harry.

"Well, we're going to have to take it in shifts, to make sure we don't get eaten," pointed out Lupin. "Does anyone want to volunteer to take the first shift? You can stay in the tent, just listen to make sure you don't hear anything particularly nasty-sounding outside. The stuff we're worried about is apt to make quite a bit of noise, as the creatures in this forest aren't particularly known for their stealth. In fact, they'd probably wake us up before they got here even if we all went to sleep, but it's always good to have at least one person who's not still too groggy to find his or her wand if we end up in a panic-situation."

"I'll take first shift, I brought a book to read. Does anyone if I keep my wand lit?" asked Hermione.

No one answered, so Lupin said, "That sounds all right. I'll take the second shift. Who wants third?"

"I will," answered Harry.

"Ok, then you wake Ron up once your two hour shift is over. Then we should all be ready to go by 6 in the morning. Also, whoever is on shift, make sure that you keep an eye on the map to make sure that Wormtail and Snape don't sneak up on us while we're sleeping. Of course, it's pretty unlikely, considering they shouldn't know we're here, but we've got to be on guard."

Ron and Harry grumbled good-naturedly about the hardship of being awoken on a Sunday at six, but soon everyone but Hermione had fallen asleep.

All four watches passed with no more noise than the light scampering of creatures that soundedlike squirrels, and the next morning they gathered outside the tent as Lupin passed around some breakfast from a bag he had brought along.

"They're only about ten kilometers away," said Lupin, looking at the map. "I would've landed us closer, but this is the only really convenient clearing near where they are, and the most important thing was to make sure they had no chance of spotting us on our way in. We can't assume that they haven't equipped themselves with omnioculars, which would allow them to see better in the dark. Now that we're on the ground, we can approach safely. At any rate, as long as they don't start moving away from us too soon, we might be able to catch up with them within a couple hours of walking."

Unfortunately, at about 9:00, after they had packed up and been walking for about an hour, Lupin glanced back down at the map, and swore.

"Well, they've started moving again," he pointed out angrily. "This could very well complicate things for us."

"We've got to have gained on them at least, haven't we?" asked Hermione.

"Well, yes, of course... we're only about 5 kilometers away now. But they're moving almost directly away from us, so we're basically just going to be keeping pace with them from here on out."

"They can't know we're following them, can they?" asked Harry suspiciously.

"It's hard to be sure of anything in the magical world, but I'd be completely amazed if they knew where we were right now. The only way they could know we're here is if somebody told them and I've been looking at the map long enough to know that there are no wizards other than us in this forest, so that couldn't have happened. I'd say it's just an unfortunate coincidence that they're moving away from us. But that doesn't make it any less annoying," concluded Lupin as he picked up his pace slightly.

After a couple of meal stops and several rest stops, they were still about 5 kilometers away from their prey by 7:00 when Lupin announced that Snape and Wormtail appeared to have stopped for the day.

"Do you think we can catch them tonight?" asked Harry.

"Probably not before it gets dark. And I'm not sure that I _want _to catch them after dark. It's a lot easier to do battle in the daytime," pointed out Lupin.

"Good point," admitted Harry, who was still a bit disappointed that they weren't going to get all this over with tonight. Frankly, the sooner they were finished with this, the sooner he could see Ginny again. He briefly wondered whether or not it made him pathetic that he missed her so much after slightly less than 24 hours. Then he decided that he didn't really care whether it made him pathetic or not.

"Still, if we keep moving now, we can get close enough to them that we should be able to overtake them in the early morning, and have this all sorted out by lunchtime," said Lupin.

"And we'll only have to miss one class!" said Hermione excitedly.

"And we can have lunch in the Great Hall," pointed out Ron with a bit more excitement than was strictly justified. "No offense to your bagged meals, of course, Moony." Recently, Ron, Harry, Hermione, and Ginny had gotten into the habit of calling Lupin "Moony" to his face. He seemed to like it, so they had made it a habit.

"No offense taken," said Lupin with a grin.

They stopped about an hour later, once they were within about two kilometers or so of Snape and Wormtail.

"I'll take first watch," Harry volunteered, after they had set up the tent and gotten situated.

"No, don't worry about it," said Lupin. I'm not too tired, and if everything goes well, I'll have plenty of time to sleep tomorrow."

"How could you not be tired, after walking so much today?" asked Hermione, skeptically.

"All right, that was kind of a lie," admitted Lupin. He pulled a flask from his pocket, which reminded Harry oddly of the imitation-Moody from 4th year. "But I've got a potion in here that will perk me up a bit, and I would rather be the one doing the watch, since we're so close to them now. Anyway, walking twenty kilometers isn't _nearly _as exhausting as turning into a werewolf."

"You're not planning to sleep at _all _tonight?" asked Hermione.

"Trust me, even though I'm tired, I don't want to sleep. Frankly I can't stop thinking about tomorrow and how many wrongs I'm going to be able to set... well, as close to right as they can ever be set," said Lupin.

Hermione had sounded concerned, but Ron and Harry were quite tired after being woken up so early and walking all day, even if it was hardly past 9 o' clock yet. In the end, they all decided to trust Lupin's judgment, though Hermione admonished him to wake her up right away if he decided that he wanted to get some rest.

However, the first person Lupin woke up was Harry, and that wasn't until 6 o' clock the next morning.

"Wormtail's on the move," were his first words to him.

It took a moment for the words to stop sounding utterly ridiculous and actually register in Harry's still somewhat groggy mind. When they did, he said, "Just Wormtail?"

"Yeah," said Lupin, looking down at the map, as if for confirmation. "And he's actually come pretty close. It's weird, he did something like this yesterday morning, too. And the morning before, when I first started watching them. He walks for awhile, stays in one spot for a bit, and then apparates back. It's really weird, but he's been doing it consistently. And that's frankly just enough to make me just about certain it's not a trap."

"What could he possibly be doing?" asked Harry.

"I don't know... Maybe he doesn't like to go to the bathroom so close to Snape if he doesn't have to," suggested Lupin. "Or maybe he just needs to have a little bit of time each day away from the slimy git. I know I would if I were in his shoes."

"Fair enough," registered Harry. "Are you planning to do something about it, then?"  
"Yes," said Lupin. "Which is why I woke you up."

"I'm up, too," registered Hermione.

"Me too," said Ron, who then paused before adding, "What's going on?"

"I'm going to go deal with Wormtail," said Lupin. "He's separated from Snape now. It'll be easier this way."

"How close is he?" asked Harry.

"He's actually really close," said Lupin. "About half a kilometer away."

"He must have been moving for awhile, then," registered Harry.

"Yes, but I didn't wake you until I was sure he was coming close enough to make this more convenient than just taking them on together," explained Lupin.

"Makes sense," registered Harry. "Do you want us to come with you?"

"Er... No, actually. I'd kind of rather if you lot didn't have to see me do this," Lupin said somewhat awkwardly.

Harry, however, understood.

"Just watch the map, and, if Snape starts moving toward Wormtail and I, come let me know. You're closer than he is, so it shouldn't be hard," said Lupin.

"Okay," agreed Harry, as Ron and Hermione nodded. "We'll pack up the tent while you're gone."

"Good luck," said Hermione, as Lupin began to walk away through the trees until he was obscured from sight.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione took turns glancing at the map as they magically took down the tent and began to pack things up.

However, several minutes after Lupin left, just as they were packing up the last of the camping equipment, Harry got a weird feeling, and he shivered. Since it was just before dawn on an May morning in Scotland, it certainly quite balmy, but he knew it wasn't the weather which had made him shiver.

He turned to Ron and Hermione. "Did you guys feel that?" he asked with a bit of worry that he couldn't even figure out why he was feeling.

"Yes," answered Hermione, who sounded just as nervous.

Another glance at the map showed that while Snape had stayed in the same place, Lupin had reached Wormtail. Harry got a quill out of his pocket and zoomed in to confirm that neither of them were moving. At all.

This was probably fine. It probably just meant that Wormtail had stopped, and that Lupin was standing in one spot watching him, waiting to strike. But somehow it seemed ominous.

"Reckon we should go to them?" Harry asked Ron and Hermione.

"Yes, I think so," said Hermione, and Ron nodded in agreement.

They brought the map with them, and Harry thought quickly enough to grab his invisibility cloak, although he wasn't quite sure why he thought he might need it. And soon, they were making their way through the forest to where Lupin and Wormtail were. And they were running, though none of them knew why.

Once they reached the spot where Lupin and Wormtail were, they quickly found that their running was justified. Both Wormtail and Lupin were already lying on the ground.

Hermione quickly ran over to Lupin and found that he still had a pulse. But he was clearly unconscious and none of them knew what had happened or whether he would survive. Harry looked at Ron and Hermione as they gathered around Lupin's motionless body.

It was just the Golden Trio again.

A/N: Please review. :)


	26. The Final Horcrux

A/N: Another week, another chapter. I think I might finally have fallen into a consistent posting-pattern. Too bad it's taken to such a late point in the story for me to do so.

Chapter 26

The Final Horcrux

"Well, we've got to take him back to Hogwarts," said Hermione, after they stood around Lupin's body in silence for several long seconds.

"No," said Harry. "We can't go back now, or we'll lose Snape. Unless, by some miracle, Wormtail has the Horcrux."

Ron, who had already made his way over to Wormtail, apparently to make sure he was dead, checked his pockets. "He doesn't seem to have the quill. But, Lupin does seem to have finished him off before... whatever exactly happened to him."

"So, he cast the killing curse on Wormtail, and now he's lying unconscious," said Harry. "Could the two be cause and effect, do you think?"

"Does that happen?" Ron asked skeptically.

"Well... We all know that when Voldemort's killing curse rebounded off Harry, it would've killed him if not for the killing curses. But in this case, the curse hit home, so could it have _also _rebounded against Lupin to hurt him?" asked Hermione.

"Why are you asking _us _a question like that?" retorted Ron. "Wouldn't _you _be the one who would know that kind of thing? Has anything like this ever happened before?"

"Er... I think I've read about it happening a couple times, when the killing curse was particularly strong," said Hermione.

"But obviously nothing like this has ever happened to... You-Know-Who. Are you saying that Lupin just cast a killing curse stronger than any of those cast by he-who-must-not-be-named?" Ron asked skeptically.

"Well..." Harry said hesitantly, "it sort of makes sense, doesn't it? I mean, think about it... Wormtail was one of Lupin's best friends growing up, and then he changed sides and got his best friend and his wife killed, then got his other best friend locked up in Azkaban for about a dozen years... You need to use hate to cast the killing curse, but Voldemort usually uses the killing curse on people who he has no real concrete reason to hate. His hate is more generic. Lupin's was personal, and therefore, apparently, stronger."

"Could it also have caused that shiver we all felt a few minutes ago?" Ron asked.

"It must have," nodded Hermione. "If it was strong enough that we all felt it, it's no wonder that it hurt Lupin, too."

"Yeah, about that," said Harry. "Remember, we still _do _need to get him back to the castle to let Madame Pompfrey treat this. Did the people involved in the other cases that you were talking about survive?"

"Most of them," said Hermione. "But yeah, we'd better get him back to Hogwarts. You reckon just one of us should take him back? Can two of us take Snape on?"

"We're sneaking up on him, and we've got an invisibility cloak. Since he still doesn't know we're here, he shouldn't be wearing his, and even if he _is _we can tell where he is by the map. We've _got _to be able to take him two on one, and if we _can't _then I don't think we could take him three on one either," reasoned Harry.

"Right," agreed Hermione. "So, who goes back?"

"You, of course," said Ron promptly.

Hermione got angry immediately. "Why me 'of course'?" she asked defensively.

"Well, it can't be me, obviously," said Harry.

"Yes, not you," agreed Hermione. "You're the quickest dueler and you know the most about Defense Against the Dark Arts."

"And I'm the second quickest dueler," Ron countered.

"But I know more spells," said Hermione.

"That's really not going to matter," pointed out Ron. "All three of us know Petrificus Totalus, and that's all we'd really have to use to win. Besides, you got to go with Harry on the whole Nagini-killing experience."

"You're only trying to protect me because I'm a girl," said Hermione.

Of course, Harry understood that neither Hermione or Ron wanted to go back to Hogwarts and have to worry about the other one. Each would much rather worry about themselves. He hated the idea of having to send either one of them home. He didn't want either one of them mad at him.

Which is why he wasn't particularly pleased when Ron said, "We should let Harry decide."

Then he was struck with a sudden idea. He grabbed his backpack and fished around for a product that the Weasley twins had given him months ago, at Christmas. He had put it in his book-bag to take it back to school, and then had forgotten it was there. He wouldn't have remembered it was there at all except that when he emptied his bookbag to fill it with clothes and things for the trip, he saw it, but decided to keep it there, since it might be worth a little entertainment if things got too boring. And now, oddly enough, it was going to come in a bit more use.

The product was a set of small sticks. Six of them were of the same length, and the seventh was shorter. They were, to all appearances, normal drawing-straws. But, since they could change lengths at the command of the user, if someone held them in their hand and concentrated, they could determine who drew the short-straw. The product, which the twins were calling 'pre-drawn straws,' had not yet hit the market but had only been given to Harry, since he was their prime investor. Thus, neither Ron nor Hermione would know that the drawing was fixed, which would prevent Hermione from being angry. He did feel a little bit bad being dishonest with Hermione, but they really didn't have time for a fight right then.

Hermione had just finished saying, "Harry will try to protect me because I'm a girl, too."

Harry responded with, "Let's draw straws."

Ron was the first to object to this, "We're going to leave this up to chance?"

Hermione decided not to object, probably mostly because Ron had, and she said, "Sure, that should work."

So, Harry held out the straws. "All right, there's seven here," he explained. "You can take turns pulling until one of you pulls the short straw. That one gets to stay here."

Once Harry was grasping all the straws in his hand, he concentrated on the phrase, "Let Ron grab the short straw." He really hoped that this product from the Weasley twins was as clever as their others.

Hermione drew first, but as soon as Ron drew, he drew the short straw.

Hermione, still somewhat begrudgingly, said, "All right, I'll take him back to near the Hogwarts grounds and then levitate him up to Madame Pompfrey's office. But, Harry, please promise not to use the Avada Kedavra Curse. We've seen what the curse can do to someone who really hates the person he's casting it against. We can't risk you going down, too. And you probably would, since you have just as much reason to hate Snape as Lupin had to hate Wormtail. Probably quite a bit more, in fact. And if you want to see him die, after he was responsible for telling Voldemort the prophecy and getting your family killed, I don't think there's any way we could blame you. Maybe you could convince Moody to let you watch the execution or something. Maybe he would even let you do it yourself. He is mad, after-all. But it'd just be best to not do it out here in the middle of the forest when you're not within immediate access to medical attention. So promise. Please."

Harry, who had not thought too much about whether he'd use the killing curse on Snape, decided that Hermione was probably right, overall. It would do no harm to petrify him and take him back to the castle, where he could be turned over to someone else to be dealt with. "I promise, Hermione," he said.

After wishing Harry and Ron good luck, she disapparated with Lupin. Harry was rather worried about Lupin, but he figured that chances were good that he'd survive. If there had been similar situations to this before, Madame Pompfrey had probably heard about them and must know how to fix it. Besides, Harry was able to push his concern for Lupin mostly out of his mind by concentrating on the task at hand.

If all went well, they could still get the Horcrux that morning.

Once Harry and Ron were alone, Ron looked at Harry and said, "So, what's the plan, mate?"

"Why don't we just sneak up on him in the invisibility cloak?" asked Harry, looking down at the Marauders' Map of the United Kingdom. "He's still in basically the same spot as before, although he's moving around a little bit. I think he might be packing up his camp."

"I don't think we should both use the cloak," countered Ron, whose opinion Harry was eager to learn because if Harry had learned nothing else from his hundreds of losses to Ron in Wizards' Chess over the years, it was that he really was a great strategist. "If we somehow give our position away again, it'd be easier for _one _of us to move to a new position than two of us. So, here's what we ought to do: You get under the cloak, and I'll hang back, behind a tree, in a spot where he won't be able to see me, and I'll keep my wand ready in case something goes wrong. Gives you more mobility, and a back-up."

"You're sure you can keep out of sight?" asked Harry.

"Of course," said Ron.

"Okay, but, just keep in mind, you're just covering me. Only step in if I'm losing. And remember, he won't kill me, considering that Voldemort would much rather kill me himself, so the only thing you _really_ need to do is intervene before he gets close enough to me to make me apparate side-along with him after disabling me. So, the most important point is that you stay out of sight. Because you, he would probably have no qualms killing," said Harry grimly. And then he decided that he didn't want to end on such a grim note, so he gave another of those half-jokes that seemed to characterize the potentially deadly situations that Harry and his friends kept getting into. "And it really wouldn't be decent for you to make me have to explain _that_ to Hermione."

Ron gave a small laugh. "Wouldn't dream of it, mate. Wouldn't dream of it."

They performed a quick charm on their feet to stop them from making noise by breaking twigs or crumbling leaves and whatnot as they walked through the forest. Luna Lovegood had shown the spell to them at their previous DA meeting, as they had recently been focusing their attention on spells to improve their stealth.

As Harry and Ron approached the spot where they expected Snape to still be packing up his camp, always keeping an eye on the map to make sure he didn't do anything unexpected, Harry felt quite confident about their situation. One person under the invisibility cloak could almost definitely take care of an unprepared opponent, and they were taking the added precaution of having Ron hang back at essentially no risk to himself.

When they came closer, Harry left Ron behind a tree with a wide trunk, leaving him the map so that he would be able to monitor where Snape was without even poking his head out from behind the tree. Then Harry himself emerged into the clearing where Snape was still packing up his camp.

Harry was glad to see that Snape was visible, because if he hadn't been, he would have had to go back to Ron to grab the map, which would have made Ron's task a bit more complicated. Harry had already started practicing Occlumency to make sure Snape couldn't sense him coming, even though Harry was relatively sure Snape could only practice Legilimancy on him if he could actually see him. He didn't want to take any chances.

Harry looked at Snape and saw that he didn't even have his wand drawn yet. That, of course, made sense, since he still had no way of knowing that someone had found him in the forest. Although Harry did wonder briefly why it hadn't bothered Snape that Wormtail was missing. Then again, Harry imagined that if Snape was the one with the Horcrux, which he must be, it wouldn't worry Snape too much that Wormtail was missing. He couldn't be providing that much help anyway. And the fact that Wormtail was simply missing instead of lying dead in the camp-site probably suggested to Snape that Wormtail had left of his own volition instead of having been ambushed. And this, as it turned out, was true.

Snape, it seemed, was completely unprepared. But then he looked directly at Harry, and kept looking at him. Harry was so shocked that he lost his concentration for long enough for Snape to grab his wand and almost raise it before he reacted by saying, "Expelliarmus!" How had Snape seen him?

But it seemed that it would be rather more appropriate to petrify Snape first and ask questions later.

However, to Harry's surprise, Snape simply said, "Wait," again, as he'd done back in the room where he had originally been guarding the Horcrux.

Harry knew Snape couldn't be reading his mind, he had gotten good enough at Occlumency that he figured there was no way Snape knew that Ron was there. But the authority in Snape's voice when he told Harry to wait made Harry curious, if nothing else. And he also did want to know how Snape could see him.

"You know you don't want to have a duel with an unarmed man," said Snape, still confident. Now, instead of curious, Harry was simply frustrated at Snape's confidence. Did Snape really thing Harry was so predictable that he would be confident that he could convince him to let him grab his wand and have an actual duel? What had Snape ever done for him to make him think that he deserved to be given a fair duel?

But, Harry knew now that at the very least, he would not let petrify Snape without first being given the satisfaction of seeing him lose that idiotic overconfidence. He knew, of course, that Snape would be panicked once he petrified him to take him back to the castle. But Harry wouldn't be able to see the panic then. And he really, really wanted to see Snape panic. He wondered for a moment whether or not he could justify using the Cruciatus Curse on Snape. There would, of course, be no tactical benefit to it, but he was pretty sure it would make him feel good. Still, he was pretty sure that Hermione would never let him live it down if he somehow got hurt himself trying to use the Cruciatus curse. And Harry honestly didn't think Snape was worth an unforgivable curse. But that didn't mean he couldn't have a little bit of fun with this.

Harry, who hadn't taken his wand off Snape, decided that he was going to take control of the conversation, and cure his curiosity at the same time. "Stay standing up straight, and we'll talk about whether you're right about that statement," advised Harry. Snape's wand was still laying about two meters from him.

Snape glared. Well, now he was at least angry. But not quite frightened yet, it seemed. "That sounds acceptable," Snape conceded.

"I assume you're just dying to tell me how you can see me even though I have an invisibility cloak on," said Harry.

Harry must have been right about this, because Snape did not hesitate at all before saying, although in a voice of seeming detachment, "I drank a potion which makes it possible for me to see people through invisibility cloaks. I would have brewed it while we were guarding the Horcrux, but no one's been able to brew the potion for years as some of the ingredients needed to brew it were thought to be extinct. But I found them here in this forest."

"Fat lot of good it's done you, then," Harry retorted. "As you still didn't have your wand ready when I snuck up on you. And now you have to rely on the idea that I wouldn't want to disable a wizard who wasn't properly prepared for a duel."

"But I'm right," said Snape calmly. "Why else would you have come here alone when you could just as easily have brought your friends with you, or even sent McGonagall and the rest of the Order in to do your dirty work for you? You want all the glory for yourself, and even _you're_ not too thick to realize that there's no glory in cursing a helpless man. Your father was too thick to realize that, but you're not."

"You still don't have a wand," pointed out Harry, "so perhaps for once you ought to refrain from taunting me about my parents." But the important point was that Snape clearly hadn't realized that Ron was there. His potion, apparently, allowed him to see through invisibility cloaks, but not through trees.

Snape remained silent. But he still didn't seem scared.

Harry didn't mind Snape's silence. He had a few things to say to Snape, which was another reason why he had not simply paralyzed him and taken him back to the castle, as would have been the more conventional move under these circumstances.

"You have no right to try to make me feel bad about what my father did to you. It worked before, of course, since I thought what he did was a mistake. But, it turns out, he was right about you. He sincerely thought that you were a greasy, good-for-nothing, dark-arts-loving, muggle-born-hating git. And he was right. You had so many people fooled, making them think you were capable of change, but you never had my father fooled. He hated you for you what he knew you'd become. Are you suggesting that he caused you to become what you became?" asked Harry angrily.

Snape still didn't say anything.

"Answer me," said Harry, with venom in his voice, wand pointing toward Snape.

"Of course not," said Snape. But the arrogance had still not left his voice. And that would have to change. He even had the gall to continue, saying, "James, arrogant as he was, could never have had that much of an impact on me. He wasn't half the wizard he thought he was. And neither are you."

"And you reckon you could prove this, if I would let you have your wand back?" Harry asked.

"Yes, I will," said Snape, still confident.

"You remember I've beaten you in a duel before, don't you?" asked Harry.

"You mean the one on Halloween night?" sneered Snape. "That was simply a fluke, and I was distracted by trying to keep Nagini safe. Besides, I hadn't realized at that point that you'd proceeded so far on your Occlumency without me, so I was overconfident."

"But you're not now?" asked Harry, trying to keep himself from laughing.

"Why don't you decide that for yourself?" he challenged. "Just let me pick up my wand, and we'll settle this like wizards."

"Fine," said Harry, in arrogant tones. "Let it be so."

Harry's control over the situation must have been eating away at Snape, which was why Harry was milking it so much. But it was with a certain air of smugness that Snape walked over to his wand and bent down to pick it up.

As soon as Snape lifted the wand from the ground, and before he was able to even think about aiming it, Harry yelled, "Expelliarmus!" again, with such force that it knocked the wand about three meters away, and caused Snape to fall to the ground. And from that position, Harry could tell that he looked quite frightened now. And that, Harry reckoned, was enough for him.

Harry could only imagine how hard it must be for Ron, who could no doubt hear enough of the exchange from behind the tree to realize what had just happened, to keep from laughing.

But, he'd had his fun. "Petrificus Totalus," muttered Harry, aiming the spell at Snape, who, seemingly beyond the point of negotiation at this point, was scuttling on his back across the forest floor in an attempt to grab his wand.

Snape stopped moving.

"Well done, mate," said Ron with a laugh, as he made his way from behind a tree.

"Did you really think I'd be stupid enough to risk losing a duel to a cornered man?" Harry asked Snape. And then, although he knew Snape had no way means of answering anyway, he said, "No, wait, don't bother answering that. Of course you thought that's how stupid I was. But it looks like you're the stupid one, doesn't it?"

Ron and Harry both approached Snape. "So where do you reckon he was keeping the Horcrux?" asked Harry conversationally. He was now completely calm, although he was having a rather difficult time fighting the urge to torture Snape at that point.

"Why don't we check his pockets first?" asked Ron.

In this case, the obvious answer was also the correct one. Harry found the quill in the first pocket he checked. They had found the final Horcrux.

A/N: Ok... I think I was justified in having Harry be a bit cruel toward Snape... He certainly deserves it, and I think that I've got Harry reacting somewhat realistically. Of course, if you disagree, feel free to let me know in a review, as I am all for constructive criticism. And, feel free to review even if you actually liked the chapter. Anyway... Sorry the chapter's a bit short... If I get a decent number of reviews for this one, I might be able to post the next chapter this weekend, otherwise I'll probably post it next Friday (February 9).


	27. Deep Conversations

A/N: All right. This has been a very quick update, and I think I'll probably get the next chapter out by Tuesday night or Wednesday morning. I'm so close to the end, now, and I actually have up to chapter 29 done (there will be a total of 30 chapters), I just need to proofread them. I've been having ideas for my next story, so I sort of want to finish this to get to that one. I hope to get chapter 29 out by Thursday night/Friday morning, and chapter 30 will hopefully be posted in about a week from today.

Chapter 27

Deep Discussions

Harry quickly placed the quill carefully into his own pocket. He and Ron apparated toward the castle, and Harry, thinking quickly, wrapped the petrified Snape in his invisibility cloak. He reckoned it might cause a bit of a stir for the students to see their former potions master, petrified or not.

After depositing Snape in McGonagall's office so that she could figure out how to deal with him, and giving her a quick run-down of what happened, Harry and Ron made their way down to the hospital-wing, where Ginny and Hermione were already waiting around Lupin's still-unconscious body.

At first, Harry's heart sank when he saw that Lupin was not awake yet. He had assumed that Madame Pompfrey would have cured him already, and when he realized she hadn't, he began to really worry about him for the first time.

Luckily, Madame Pompfrey quickly explained that she had, in fact, read about a similar condition before, and that she had already force-fed Lupin a potion that should wake him up in a matter of hours. As Lupin was her only patient at the moment, and he clearly wouldn't mind, she even let them stay around him and wait for him to wake up.

While they waited, they seemed to reach an unspoken consensus that even though Madame Pompfrey was in her private office rather than in the patients' ward, it would probably be best if they didn't talk about exactly what had happened to get Lupin into the sickbed in the first place, or any related topics. It really wouldn't do to have Madame Pompfrey know about the Horcruxes, Harry knew, even if they had, _finally_ given the last one to McGonagall to deactivate.

The closest they got to discussing the matter was Ginny whispering, "So you got it?" and Harry nodding his head.

Thus, it was with high spirits that the four friends made small-talk for the three hours before Lupin finally stirred. When he finally woke up, all five of them made their way up to the Room of Requirement to discuss what had happened in private. When Lupin got out of his bed, Madame Pompfrey came out of her office, and seemed to have half a mind to order Lupin to remain in bed. But, apparently there was no sound medical reason to do so, and she seemed to figure that Lupin, being about 40 years old, was out of her jurisdiction as far as demanding bed-rest went.

Lupin began telling the story, and Ginny listened intently, while the others felt justified in simply zoning out, considering that they had been present, until he reached the part when he had left the campsite that morning.

"As I got within earshot of him, I could hear him muttering," said Lupin. "This, of course, only made me doubly sure that he had no idea I was there, and as I had cast the silencing charm on my feet, I knew it would stay that way until I was in sight of him. And by then, I knew it would be too late. I remembered from the map that he was in the same spot that he had been when I last saw him. I was counting on that, of course, because he had stopped by the time I left, but I still appreciate it when things go according to plan. I would have taken the map along with me, but I didn't want Wormtail to get hold of it on the unlikely chance that he actually beat me in the battle. At any rate, once I got close enough to hear what he was actually saying, I was actually caught a bit off guard. See... He was trying to talk himself into apparating away from there and going into hiding. For a moment, just for a moment, I was torn and wondered whether I should let him do it. It would still have been a cowardly move, of course, but it was better than him fighting for Voldemort. And a part of me still didn't want to kill the only other surviving Marauder, no matter how much he deserved it. But then I remembered that what Wormtail was doing was a morning-ritual. I had seen him leave camp like this several other times. I realized he had probably trying to convince himself to do the same thing each time. So I knew that he wouldn't actually go away. I had kept walking toward him as I was debating with myself about whether to let him go, and by the time I caught sight of him, he had reached the end of his own debate as well. He was sitting on a log with his eyes on the forest floor instead of looking toward me, and I don't think I'll ever forget the last line in his debate, Wormtail's last words. He said, 'No, no, Peter, you had it right yesterday, and the day before that. You can't walk away from this now. It's too dangerous for you, and you certainly don't want to be killed, do you? It's time to stop fussing about your so-called morals and look out for number one.' And I had never hated him more than I hated him in that moment. I guess it turns out that I hated him a bit too much for my own good. I cast the curse, and that's the last thing I remember until I woke up."

"We felt a chill when you cast the curse," registered Hermione.

"Snape probably did too, even though he was further away," said Harry. "That would explain why he started moving around that time."

"How did you end up dealing with Snape, then?" asked Lupin. At this point, Hermione, Lupin, and Ginny were all listening hard.

However, at about the point in the story when Harry was talking about how much he hated Snape's arrogance, and how he had needed to see Snape show a little fear, Ginny's facial expression changed, becoming only more unpleasant the more he told her, culminating with when he had cast the expelliarmus curse on Snape the moment he held it in his hand, and then petrified him.

"Harry!" she said, apparently surprised. "It would've been one thing if you felt you ought to beat him in a fair fight, but you just wanted to see him squirm!"

"But he deserved it!" said Harry, honestly not seeing what the problem was.

"But it served no purpose. He'll be dead soon now, if he isn't already, and he would be just as harmless now if you had simply petrified him before he had a chance to reach for his wand the first time," argued Ginny.

"I needed to see him understand just what was going on, to see his smugness disappear," Harry explained.

"And why did you need to do that?" asked Ginny, as if she already knew the answer.

Harry rather expected that she did. "Because I hate him," said Harry.

This, apparently, was both the incorrect answer, and exactly the answer Ginny was expecting. "So you let your hate motivate you!" said Ginny.

"In this instance, yes," said Harry.

"And you don't see how that's a problem?" asked Ginny.

"Not really," countered Harry. In Harry's opinion, no matter what had motivated him, Snape really did deserve to feel fear. And Harry thought that he deserved to see it.

Ginny looked utterly disappointed, and Harry still wasn't sure why.

"I can't talk to you right now," said Ginny, and she rose from her seat.

"Why?" asked Harry, now downright amazed and rather worried.

"Not right now," said Ginny. "I'll talk to you about it later." And she left the room.

"Don't worry about it, mate," said Ron, as soon as Ginny had closed the door with a huff. "She'll come around."

But Harry wasn't too interested in what Ron had to say right then, as he was quite sure that Ron understood women even less than he himself did. And at the moment, Harry suspected that that was saying quite a lot.

He turned to Hermione. "You know exactly what's bothering her, don't you?" Harry asked.

"Of course," said Hermione, unable to hide a small smile.

"Are you going to _tell _me?" he asked, expectantly.

Harry and Ginny didn't fight much, but when they did, he absolutely hated it. He really had very little experience fighting with her. The few arguments that had occurred were of little import, and had resolved themselves generally within the same conversation in which they began. In that way, their relationship was rather unlike Ron and Hermione's, since had fought and made up a great deal even before they were dating. Harry always tried to avoid fights with Ginny, because whenever they got into one, he was always scared he might lose her. And now they had gotten into one that he wasn't even sure how he had started.

"No," explained Hermione, although she was no longer smiling and now actually looked a bit sorry for him. "I think I ought to let Ginny tell you herself."

"But she won't," said Harry helplessly.

"She will," Hermione reassured. "She just probably doesn't want to have the conversation in front of the rest of us." Harry immediately started to get out of his chair, taking that as a cue to solve all this by having a conversation in private, if that was all it was going to take. "Not yet," Hermione countered. "She probably needs a little time to think of what to say, too."

"It's really that difficult?" asked Harry.

"If she's thinking about what I think she's thinking about, then yes," said Hermione.

"Are you as confused as I am?" Harry asked the other two males in the room.

"Quite," Ron reassured him.

"Not really," responded Lupin. "I think I have an idea what she's talking about."

And that just left Harry all the more confused.

They had already missed lunch in the Great Hall by the time they emerged from the Room of Requirement after about twenty more minutes of talking about how great it was that they had finally gotten the last Horcrux.

Unfortunately for Harry, it was only about four minutes after he, Hermione, and Ron had sat down for dinner that Ginny came down and sat beside him. "Do you want to go talk?" asked Harry eagerly, hoping to get all this resolved as soon as possible.

"Well, yes," said Ginny, in a voice that suggested that she wasn't as angry with him anymore. If that was in fact the case, then half the battle seemed already to have been won. "But you can eat first, if you want."

"Are you hungry?" he asked.

"No, actually. I missed lunch, so I went to the kitchens to nick some food from the house-elves. Dobby sends his regards, by the way," said Ginny.

"Of course he does," acknowledged Harry with a smile. "But... I don't mind leaving dinner early. I can go nick something from the kitchens later, too. I haven't really seen Dobby in a while. Anyway, I'd rather find out what's bothering you as soon as possible."

"All right, then," said Ginny with a smile which told him that he had finally answered a question correctly.

They left the Great Hall and immediately made their way to the room of requirement. After they had paced about outside of it and opened the door, they were both slightly amused to find the room equipped with not only a small couch, but also a small feast on a table in front of the couch.

"You must have been hungrier than you let on," said Ginny with a small smile to Harry. "We really _could _have stayed in the Great Hall long enough for you to eat."

"What's the point, when we can have our own private dinner?" asked Harry, who was still trying to get over the fact that apparently, the room of requirement was magically catered. "Besides, not all of this can be for me... You must be hungry too. When was it that you went to the kitchens?"

"Two o' clock," admitted Ginny sheepishly. "So, perhaps I could eat as well."

"Good then," said Harry, and he sat down and began to dig in. "But don't be shy about eating and talking. I really do need to know what's bothering you."

"This is going to sound stupid," she started.

"You really do need to stop starting your statements like that," commented Harry. "If I didn't know you well enough to know you were wrong about that, I might just tone you out when you started to talk."

"You know, it's funny," said Ginny, "I think it's only with you that I really start my opinions off like that. I think it's just force of habit from the time when I was watching every move I made to try to impress you. Maybe on some level I'm still afraid that at some point you're going to realize I'm just some stupid little girl."

"Well, you've got to get over that," said Harry seriously. Then he grinned a bit. "Honestly, if I haven't figured it out _yet_, I'd say I'm probably not going to."

"Yeah," replied Ginny with a small grin in response. "Well, that's not what was bothering me anyway."

"Right," agreed Harry. "Back to the topic at hand."

"So, I guess you noticed I started getting upset when you told me about your encounter with Snape?"

"Yeah," agreed Harry. "I'd have to have been pretty observationally dull to not have noticed that."

"Sorry, I'm used to dealing with Ron," she said jokingly.

"Right," said Harry, with a slight chuckle. "Why were you upset when I told you about Snape?"

"There was no reason to have to torment him," said Ginny.

Harry was genuinely surprised by her choice of words. "Torment?" he asked. "I thought I was pretty humane. All I wanted to do was make him stop being so arrogant for once."

"No, you wanted to see him suffer," said Ginny. Normally, Harry would have been angry if someone presumed to tell him what was motivating him. But he wasn't angry because first of all, it was Ginny, and second of all, she might not be too far off the mark. He remembered how tempted he had been to use the Cruciatus curse on Snape, and told Ginny as much.

To his relief, this didn't seem to surprise Ginny, or make her angry again. But she wasn't happy about it either, she'd just gotten her emotions under control. "See, that's the problem. The fact that you could even think of doing that to another human being."

"But... It wasn't just _any _human being. I _hate_ Snape," said Harry.

"Well, I'm sure he's dead now," Ginny said. "Does that make you hate him any less?"

"Well..." Harry thought. "No."

"And would it have made you hate him any less if you'd used the Cruciatus Curse on him?" asked Ginny.

"I was never really considering-" at this point Harry cut himself off, knowing that to some extent he was lying. He decided to stick to things that were definitely true. "No, I'd still hate him the same amount."

"And did it make you hate him any less to see the fear on his face when you performed the expelliarmus curse the second time and saw the fear in his eyes?" asked Ginny, her voice getting somewhat more animated, driving her point home.

"No," said Harry. He had a strong feeling here that Ginny was assuming that he already understood her point here, and he had to admit that he did not. So he decided to see what she'd have to say to his justification. "But I can't help how I feel."

"Of course not," Ginny agreed. "But you can choose what feelings to dwell on, and what feelings to follow. I'm just afraid that when you decided to make Snape feel fear, you were changing yourself more than you could ever have changed Snape. I just don't want you to be motivated by hate."

Harry had to admit to himself that she had a point. Voldemort was the prime example of what happened when someone was motivated by hate, and Snape was another good example of the same principle. "You know, don't you, that I'm usually not motivated by hate, right?" asked Harry. "I mean, of course, I hate Voldemort, more than you could know, but that's not why I'm going after him. I'm going after him because of you, and all the other people I love."

"I know," said Ginny. But Harry knew, that she didn't _really_ know. She trusted him, and that was enough. But he could do her one better.

"I've told you about the Pathei Emou curse, right?" asked Harry, knowing, of course, that he had. He'd told Ron, Hermione, and Ginny.

"Yes," said Ginny.

"Well, I haven't learned it from McGonagall yet, but I reckon she'll teach it to me soon. And, well... I was thinking... It sounds like it's a really complicated spell, and it would probably be best if I were to practice it first..."

"Are you suggesting what I think you're suggesting?" her facial expression wasn't entirely readable, and for a moment, he wondered whether she would think this was a stupid idea.

"If you don't want me to, then-" said Harry hastily.

"No, I just want to make sure I'm not misunderstanding... It's just, this is the type of thing that I would've figured I'd have to force a bottle of Witches' Wine down your throat before you'd even consider it," said Ginny.

Harry thought about that, and wondered for a moment whether it would really be embarrassing to show Ginny how much he cared about her. "Well... It really would have strategic value," he said in perhaps too offhand a voice.

"So that's all it's about, then?" asked Ginny, sounding quite put out, although Harry could tell she was trying to hide it and sound off-hand like he had. "Strategy?"

"No," said Harry, hastily. "This plan deals strongly with your emotions. And your feelings are more important to me than strategy. Would you like me to prove it to you?"

"Harry, you know you don't have to prove it to me," said Ginny kindly. But she knew he still would. "I already know that you love me, just like you know I love you. Of course... if it might help you defeat Voldemort, you _probably _ought to do it anyway."

"Yes, well. Then I'd better talk to McGonagall," said Harry, as they switched to lighter conversation as they finished their dinner in the Room of Requirement.

It turned out that McGonagall was thinking along about the same lines as Harry was, and told him the next morning at breakfast that they ought to start meeting on a nightly basis to practice "a special spell" as she called it in case there was anyone able to overhear them. It would do no good to have Voldemort be somehow forewarned of the spell Harry was planning to use on him. Of course, he might suspect it, considering it was the same spell Grindelwald had been defeated with, but that didn't much matter, considering that if Harry was able to get the spell off, it would be effective whether Voldemort was expecting it or not. Still, it couldn't hurt to keep the element of surprise.

As McGonagall was turning around to walk back to the staff table, he realized he still didn't know for sure whether Snape was dead. He decided to ask her, although he knew he couldn't ask the question straight-out in the middle of the Great Hall. He said, "Did you work out the problem with our Potions Professor?"

"Yes," said McGonagall, with a small frown. "It's been taken care of."

As the day went on, and Harry got closer to his first lesson in learning the curse with which he hoped to defeat Voldemort, he couldn't help to get excited. All the pieces were falling into place, and for the first time, Voldemort's defeat seemed to be almost within reach.

Of course, for how many pieces were falling into place, there were others that seemed to refuse to do so. For instance, they still had no idea where Voldemort was. The Marauder's Map of Britain was constantly showing him as "unlisted" and neither Lupin, McGonagall, or anybody else was quite sure why. There was a chance that he was simply apparating place to place indoors, as Voldemort never had given any indication of relishing fresh air, but Lupin had speculated that Voldemort may have somehow found a way to make himself unchartable.

"It'd be an odd thing to try to do," said Lupin, when they were discussing the possibility on the little Horcrux-themed camping trip of several days before, when Voldemort's possible locale was one of the many topics used to fill the silence with something other than the crackling of dead leaves as they walked. "Considering that he can't know that we've got a map like this. Even though Snape knows about the Marauders' Map, he must not know that the concept can be expanded to wider areas. If he did, he and Wormtail would stay inside. But it really could just be a coincidence."

However, Harry decided that the mystery of why Voldemort never showed up on the map would be a problem for a time when he would know how to deal with him if he did.

And that particular problem would hopefully be easier to solve, thought Harry, as he stepped into McGonagall's office that night.

A/N: I'd like to give a quick thanks to Cyndur, on the off-chance that you're still reading, since I recently rediscovered that way back in your review for chapter 7, you suggest that Harry practice the Pathei Emou curse on Ginny. Frankly, I can't remember whether I thought of that idea before your review, or whether I got it from you. So... Thanks!


	28. Pathei Emou

A/N: Thanks to everyone who has reviewed recent chapters. Read on... Only 2 chapters left after this one... Next one should be up Thursday night or Friday morning... And the last chapter might be out as early as Friday night.

Chapter 28

Pathei Emou

The spell, while far from easy, was actually not as difficult to learn as some others that he had learned. The main trick to it, as it turned out, was to concentrate a great deal on the memory that he wanted to get across. As he had decided months ago, the memory that he would use was the memory of being awoken with a kiss from Ginny on the night when they went to find Hufflepuff's goblet.

He remembered what it felt like to wake up beside her, with his first sight being of her pretty face and her beautiful eyes. And in that moment, the only thoughts he had had were about how wonderful she was, how sweet, how cute. It was in that moment, he realized, that he had first realized just how much he loved her.

He reflected during one of his lessons in McGonagall's office that this really would be a good bit more revealing of his emotions than the Witches' Wine had been. But he also realized that he didn't even mind.

Of course, if all Harry had to do was concentrate hard on the memory, it wouldn't have been hard enough to require several training sessions. But he was going to have to think about that while still trying to keep his mind clear so that Voldemort wouldn't expect what was going on. He would have to keep the front of his mind clear while focusing on Ginny largely in the back of his mind. He reckoned he'd be able to focus on her fully for a couple of seconds before actually casting the spell, once Voldemort had given up trying to read his mind. But it wouldn't work if he let her get too far out of his mind. Conjuring a memory for the Pathei Emou spell was not the kind of thing that could be done on the spur of the moment.

So what he was practicing was attempting to perform his occlumency, keep Ginny in his mind, and still have enough concentration left over to cast spells quick enough to keep up in a duel with Voldemort.

Harry found it odd that after all the searching, all the preparation, and all the magical talent he had, it seemed all of this was going to come down to how much he could get his brain to focus on at once. _Isn't it Hermione who is good at the brain stuff?_ Harry wondered to himself at one point when he got particularly discouraged by the seeming impossibility of all this. _Maybe it would've been better if _Hermione_ had been the Chosen One? _

But, after his first couple of training sessions with McGonagall turned out to be mostly exercises in controlling his own mind, he felt he could think about as many things at once as he needed to.

Then, by Wednesday night, they decided it was time to add the dueling aspect into the , so they held the fourth training session in the room of requirement and brought both Professor Shacklebolt and Lupin up to help. They weren't worried about telling either of them about the spell that they were going to use, considering neither of them would likely be captured by death-eaters. Harry reckoned they would die first.

"We understand that dueling Voldemort is probably going to be the hardest duel you'll ever have to take part in, and we don't know that just one of us can fully simulate that," said McGonagall.

"So what we're going to do is team up on this. You will duel with Lupin while I attempt to read your mind. If I did both myself then my reaction time would be delayed by trying to focus on reading your mind. But Voldemort's probably a bit better at Occlumency as well, so he won't be delayed as much. And Lupin is a little bit faster at dueling than I am."

Harry figured this would be quite a challenge. But then, he expected, so would dueling with Voldemort.

"Now, we're not going to make you practice the Pathei Emou curse, considering that the memory you're going to show Voldemort is probably a bit too personal to share with just anyone," said McGonagall.

"I plan to practice it on Ginny at some point before we go," said Harry.

"That's probably a good idea," said McGonagall. "Although I have little doubt that you'll be able to perform the spell, it will be one less thing for you to worry about if you have already cast it once before you face Voldemort."

"Still, as far as this practice session goes, we won't be able to be sure you're thinking about Ginny while we're dueling. At least not if you do it right and keep me out of your mind, that is," pointed out Shacklebolt.

"Don't worry," said Harry with a slight grin. "Thinking about Ginny should be the easy part. I'm thinking about her a lot of the time anyway."

Lupin laughed at this comment. "You're rather like James in that respect. I don't think he ever stopped thinking about Lily."

Like father, like son, reckoned Harry.

"While I believe you," said McGonagall, "it's always better to be over-prepared than under-prepared. And with good duelers, the primary instinct once one gets into a duel is to forget about everything else. So why don't we try a little brain exercise to see if you can really concentrate on something? Right before each practice duel, I'm going to give you a five digit number to tell me at the end of the duel. If you don't think about it during the duel, you won't be able to tell it to me afterwards. For the sake of this exercise, you don't have to think about Ginny during the duel. If you can help it," said McGonagall with a small smile. In spite of how focused he was on the fact that this exercise was actually probably going to be really tough, he still found it a bit amusing that McGonagall was teasing him.

After Lupin and Harry had gotten into position facing each other across the Room of Requirement, McGonagall gave her final instructions. "When I finish saying the fifth digit of the number, the duel begins. Good luck. Five, four, eight, three, six."

Harry shot an "Expelliarmus" curse at Lupin while simultaneously jumping to his left to avoid a petrificus totalus curse which Lupin sent his way. Meanwhile, he thought _five, four, eight, three, six_. By the time he thought the number "four" he realized that Lupin had already blocked the expelliarmus curse and was sending another curse of his own Harry's way. Harry deflected this one, and as he was thinking the number six, he sent an Impedimentia curse at Lupin. Lupin dodged this one by jumping to his right, but Harry noticed that Lupin misjudged and lost his balance on the landing. Excited, he cast the expelliarmus curse at Lupin just as he regained his balance. The spell hit home, and knocked the wand out of Lupin's hand and his feet off the ground. Lupin landed on the padding that had been covering the floor of the room of requirement since they'd opened the door, and Harry used the opportunity to cast the Petrificus Totalus curse on Lupin, since they'd decided beforehand that successfully casting the Petrificus Totatalus curse would determine the winner.

"Congratulations," said McGonagall. "Now what was the number?"

"Er..." said Harry, who had forgotten all about the number. "Did it start with an eight?"

"No," said McGonagall with a small smile. "But don't worry. That wasn't bad for a first try. Shacklebolt, did he at least keep his mind closed?"

"Like a Gringotts' vault," said Shacklebolt in congratulations.

Harry couldn't help but be a bit disappointed about losing the game, but he still had plenty of time to practice. _And_, he reflected, _I'll have a lot of time if we can't figure out where Voldemort's gotten off to. _

However, he pushed that thought out of his mind and prepared for another duel with Lupin, reminding himself that this time, he would have to make sure not to forget about the number in the heat of the battle.

McGonagall said, "two, five, three, nine, six."

Lupin started with an expelliarmus spell this time. Harry deflected it easily, but by the time he did, Lupin had already cast a petrifying curse. This one Harry dodged, just as he was pulling off a petrificus totalus curse of his own. All the while, he was repeating the number in his head. Lupin, of course, blocked the curse. "Expelliarmus!" yelled Harry again, starting to get a bit frustrated, following the expelliarmus with a second one before even noticing what Lupin was doing, assuming that he was going to counter the spell again, and trying to follow the first spell with a second one quick enough that he would not have time to counter them both. However, instead of a blocking spell, Lupin had sent another petrificus totalus curse at Harry. Just before the curse froze Harry, Harry noticed the wand leave Lupin's hand and sail across the room. The first curse had hit home, and if Harry had countered Lupin's spell instead of sending a second one of his own, he would have won the duel while Lupin was trying to regain his wand.

When he was un-petrified, he groaned in frustration and said, "I remember, the number, at least. Is that partial credit?"

"What's the number?" quizzed McGonagall.

"Two, five, three, nine, six," Harry rattled off.

"Very good. And you almost had him that time," she said. "Shacklebolt, did you succeed in breaking into his mind this time?"

"Nope," replied Shacklebolt.

"Very good. Are you ready for another go?" she asked.

"Yes," said Harry, although somewhat hesitantly. This was all starting to get a bit tiring.

"Four nine three six five," said McGonagall.

This time, Harry decided to react to Lupin for awhile. Lupin started with an expelliarmus, which Harry blocked. Then came a petrificus totalus, which Harry also blocked. Lupin tried an expelliarmus again, but as he opened his mouth, Harry jumped right and shot a petrificus totalus curse at him at the same time. Lupin hardly had time to get off the expelliarmus curse before he was petrified. Harry had won, and he had managed to keep the number in his mind the whole time as well.

"Four nine three six five," he rattled off.

"Congratulations," said McGonagall. "And was his mind open?" she asked Kingsley, even though it seemed that that part of the game, Harry had down pat.

"Nope, he's quite private," said Kingsley with a smile.

"All right, you passed that one," said McGonagall. "At this point, we'll break for the day. We will practice this again tomorrow."

That sounded fine to Harry, and he told her so. Then, however, she dropped a bomb-shell. And tomorrow after we practice, we will go to my office to have a meeting with Malfoy. He claims to know where you can find Voldemort."

"What?!" asked Ron, when he got to this point in recounting the story later on to Ron, Hermione, and Ginny, once everyone else had once again vacated the Common Room for the night. "If he really knew something, why wouldn't he have told us earlier?"

"I can think of a few reasons," Ginny pointed out.

"I asked the same thing," said Harry. "And it turns out he had told McGonagall something about it shortly after he defected to our side. However, McGonagall hadn't had time to investigate it, or even allow him to tell her the whole story, and with two Horcruxes still in play at the time, it wasn't her top priority for awhile. Of course, now, matters are different. So now he'll explain it to both of us tomorrow."

"You're going to give him Veritaserum or something, at least, won't you?" asked Ron, who was still somewhat suspicious of Malfoy. Of course, the rest of them were, too.

"What if he's telling the truth, though?" Harry asked. "I could be facing Voldemort in... maybe as little as a week or two."

"Are you ready?" asked Ginny. However, the tone in her voice made it clear that she expected an affirmative answer.

"Well... maybe..." said Harry uncertainly. "Today in practice, I could hardly even get a spell through to Lupin, he kept blocking me at every attempt I made."

"Well, then," said Hermione, "it's good that the Pathei Emou curse is unblockable." Harry figured he should have known that Hermione would remember more about the spell he was preparing to use on Voldemort than he did.

"That's a good point, at least," Harry pointed out. "But that's not really going to help if stays on the offensive and keeps making me use counter-curses."

However, Hermione turned out to have an answer for this, too, and Harry rather thought that it might work. It made Harry feel a bit better.

He was even more encouraged the next day after he beat Lupin in three straight duels while keeping his mind closed and remembering the numbers that McGonagall gave him.

"You know, I don't mean to make you feel overconfident, here," said Lupin, "but I don't think anyone's ever beat me in three straight duels like that. You're quite a dueler, you know."

"Thank you," said Harry. But he had quite a more pressing problem to attend to, seeing as how it was at that time that McGonagall reminded him that they were scheduled to meet with Draco Malfoy via Floo network.

"Do you really think he knows where we can find Voldemort?" asked Harry.

"At the very least, he must think he does," said McGonagall. "He can't do anything purposefully destructive because of the Unbreakable Vow we put him under on the night of Halloween. Leading us on a wild goose-chase for Voldemort, or into a trap, would be destructive. My main concern is that he may not know as much as he thinks he does. I would actually be rather surprised if there was any way he could know where Voldemort would be, especially after being in hiding for six months. But, at the moment, this is the only lead we've got, so I figure we might as well see what he's got to say."

"I guess you're right," said Harry, but the fact that McGonagall was so skeptical about this lead rather dampened Harry's hopes that this meeting would be worthwhile.

After walking up to McGonagall's office, Harry and McGonagall waited for Malfoy to show up in the fire-place.

When he did, he actually looked rather nervous. He immediately looked for Harry, making it clear that although McGonagall was the one technically in the position of authority, both teens understood that Harry was really the one who was most important in this exchange, no matter how much that fact annoyed Malfoy.

"Look, Potter, do you really think you can beat the Dark Lord?" he asked. It was amazing that in spite of the fact that Malfoy and Harry knew equally well that Malfoy's personal safety relied just as much as Harry's on his ability to end Voldemort's reign of terror, Malfoy was still attempting to be cold and aloof toward him.

"Yes, I think so," said Harry, and at the moment he was pretty confident that he could.

"Well, you'd better," said Malfoy.

"Just tell me what you know, would you?" asked Harry.

It looked like it was causing Malfoy a great deal of stress to follow any order given by Harry, but in the end, it was in his best interest, so after a sigh, he said, "I know the location of the Dark Lord's personal residence."

"You know where Voldemort lives?" asked Harry.

After a quick shudder at the use of his former masters' name, Malfoy said, "Could you let me finish before questioning me?"

Harry decided at least to give this strategy a try. "Fine, go ahead," said Harry.

"Sometimes he calls us to an area right outside his residence for personal meetings. Like when he told me to murder Dumbledore. Anyway, I saw him come out of his doorway, so I know where it is."

"Isn't that really lax security, letting so many people know where he spends so much of his time?" asked a still skeptical Harry.

"Well, see, almost no one can actually get into the passageway leading into the passageway. The only way you can do so is if you're a parsel-tongue, since it only opens if it's told to do so in the language of snakes, and it only allows one person in at a time. Frankly, you're the only other parsel-tongue that Voldemort is currently aware of, and he wouldn't mind meeting you one on one in is personal residence, especially since he has a nice alarm system to alert him if anyone besides him comes inside," said Malfoy.

"Why would he let people know how to get into his home?" asked Harry.

"Just to prove how hard it is, so that everyone knows he's pretty much invulnerable. Knowing that he's so secure just helps stop people from planning attacks on him. The death-eaters, of course, are a less than loyal bunch, and there are some who might try to overtake the Dark Lord if they thought doing so was a possibility," said Malfoy.

"I guess that makes sense," said Harry.

"I'm rather surprised it didn't take longer than that for you to figure that out," said Malfoy icily.

"So where is it?" asked Harry.

Malfoy gave directions, to which Harry listened and which McGonagall wrote down.

Things were falling into place.

"You had better hope this works," Harry cautioned Malfoy just before he left.

Malfoy looked at Harry for a moment, almost opening his mouth. It looked for a moment as if Malfoy might actually even wish him luck. But instead, he simply removed his head from the fireplace.

"You think he's telling the truth?" asked Harry.

"I think he very well might be," replied McGonagall.

"Do you really think that Voldemort hasn't made any further Horcruxes?" asked Harry, who had been wondering about this point for awhile and wanted to get it off his chest.

"Well, I've told you before that I think it would be too exhausting for him to keep splicing his soul when he knew someone was capable of finding and breaking them, and your capture of the last Horcrux proves that they're not safe even when personally guarded by his most loyal servants. I think it's most unlikely that he will have made another one, and if he did, we can still get him into captivity by using this curse. At any rate, you're in no further danger even if he does have another Horcrux out there somehow, he would simply disappear again when we try to kill him. As a matter of fact, the only way that we'll know for sure that he doesn't have another Horcrux is if we see a corpse," finished McGonagall.

At this point, the only thing left to do was practice the Pathei Emou spell on Ginny. The night after Malfoy's conversation with Harry and McGonagall, during a break from the studying regimen Hermione was enforcing for the NEWTs which were due to begin in less than two weeks, Harry and Ginny made their way off to the Room of Requirement so he could do just that. The reason they chose that evening was that they were planning Harry's encounter with Voldemort for the next evening. However, as they paced in front of the Room of Requirement, Harry was for a moment able to forget about that and was focused mostly on Ginny.

When they opened the door, there was once again padding on the floor.

"What's _that_ doing there?" asked Ginny jokingly.

Harry said, "No, I was thinking maybe we should have a duel in the lead-up to the spell, since that's what'll happen when I face Voldemort."

"Oh yes. But you know," she said, bouncing up and down on her heels for a second, "this padding really _is _about the same consistency as a mattress... would you like me to conjure some blankets and pillows?"

"Look, there's no need to tease me," said Harry, who knew quite well what Ginny was implying, and also knew that they had both agreed on several occasions that they wouldn't be doing any of the type of thing she was implying until they were married. That did not, of course, mean that there was no temptation, or that it was helping that she was teasing him about it.

"But it's so much _fun_," replied Ginny, coming over and giving him a quick kiss.

"Okay, well... _that _part was fun, anyway," said Harry. "But, anyway. Down to business, all right?"

"So, dueling, eh?" she asked happily, apparently rather looking forward to the test of the spell. "I assume here that you don't want me to aim to kill?" she asked.

"How'd you know?" asked Harry. "But yeah, good point. I'd say we can assume that landing either the Pathei Emou or the Petrificus Totalus can count as a kill."

"Good enough," agreed Ginny.

"All right, then... Let's count to three together, then," said Harry.

"One, two, three," they said in unison.

Immediately afterwards, Ginny said "Expelliarmus!" Harry, meanwhile, was keeping the memory of Ginny in the back of his mind, which, incidentally was probably easier than it would have if she weren't standing right in front of him. He also decided to make an effort to keep his mind closed, even though there was no one there to check up on whether he was successful.

Of course, Harry blocked the Expelliarmus spell. She sent out another petrificus totalus curse, which Harry blocked as well, and sent one of his own right back, though this was mostly to distract her from sending her own spell, given that he didn't expect her to fail to block his. And the moment it took her to deflect his spell was just enough time for him to concentrate fully on the memory of himself waking up next to Ginny.

He remembered her sweet smile, her beautiful eyes, her cute face, and her warmth as she lay in his arms. He remembered how the only thing in the world in that moment seemed to be her and him and how she was the only thing that he would ever need to be truly happy. His only thought in that moment was how nice it was to wake up with her, and how nice it had been to fall asleep with her the night before. He remembered how he had been overwhelmed by thoughts of how nice she was, how funny, how smart, how brave, and, quite simply, how good. And of course, the overarching thought was that of how he loved her so much that sometimes, it still surprised him.

And, as a result of how many different times he had needed to think of all this in the past few days while practicing his mind exercises, he was able to conjure this very complex memory in the period of about a second before he cast the spell.

"Pathei Emou!" he yelled.

The spell hit her, but Harry had only a moment to relish in his victory in the fake duel before he started being amazed by the effects of his spell. After the spell landed, she stayed frozen in place for several seconds, her eyes widening. Meanwhile, Harry himself realized how much energy the spell had caused him to lose. He wanted to go over to Ginny and make sure that she was all right, but he knew that it would take him a rather large amount of exertion at this point even to move. He certainly couldn't have cast another spell, and he knew that he had better hit Voldemort the first time the next night, or he might very well lose the battle. Luckily, the battle strategy that Hermione had worked out would probably help him there.

Harry turned his thoughts away from the upcoming battle and back to Ginny. He wasn't too worried, as he reckoned what he was seeing was her reaction to how much he loved her. For a moment, he was a bit offended that she would be so shocked by this. But then, he realized, a large part of his memory was dedicated to how very wonderful he found her to be. And Harry realized that Ginny couldn't always go around thinking that she was quite as great as Harry thought she was. If she did, she would've been more conceited than Snape had thought Harry himself was.

After a few seconds, the initial shock seemed to wear off for Ginny, and Harry himself started to regain some of his energy. It seemed the exhaustion from the exertion of the spell would only be temporary. At this point, she broke into a smile, and Harry noticed that there were two tears making their way down her face. It surprised him perhaps more than it should have that she was so happy about the memory she had just experienced. Seeing her so happy, he decided that if he succeeded in defeating Voldemort, his first action afterwards would be to ask her to marry him, mostly because he knew that that would make her just as happy as the memory had. And she deserved to be happy.

She ran over to him and gave him such a tight hug that it actually hurt a bit. He was going to let this detail go, but it seemed that she was planning to make this hug sort of a long-term commitment. About thirty seconds into it, Harry politely asked, "Could you loosen up just a bit?"

She did, but kept holding him. It was almost another full minute before she released.

"Well, Harry, I think it worked," she said, her voice somewhat shaky.

"Has it worn off already?" asked Harry, hoping that the answer was no.

"No, I'm quite sure that, even if I wanted to, I couldn't kill you right now," she said, with a laugh.

"Good. Well, let's just hope it has the same effect on Voldemort," he said.

"Oh, trust me, Voldemort's in trouble," said Ginny. "I mean, you saw me, I could hardly move at first, and I'm _not _an emotionally crippled murderer."

"That's a good point," said Harry lightly.

There was a silence in the room for a moment. Then Ginny said, "You know, I never doubted that you loved me."

"I know," said Harry. "But I just wanted you to understand it for yourself."

Ginny nodded. "Do you really think all those wonderful things about me?

"You know I do," said Harry with a smile.

"Hmph," she said with a small laugh. "Sometimes, I wonder if you're delusional."

They both laughed at that, and Harry found it rather amazing that even after understanding how he felt about her, she could still keep from gaining a big head.

A/N: Quick question for anyone who has gotten to this point of the story after having recently read the rest of it: Do you remember if I mentioned that Fleur was pregnant? I know I intended at one point to work that into my story, but I'm not sure if I did. A story that I've recently started working on is going to be sort of a sequel to this, and I need to know because if I said Fleur was pregnant, I'm going to have to go back and change it... Otherwise, thanks for reading, and please review, 'cause reviews are so much fun to get.


	29. The Final Battle

A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed last chapter!

Chapter 29:

The Final Battle

That night, Harry had to knock himself out with a sleeping potion in order to get any sleep at all. He wouldn't have thought of this on his own, but McGonagall had suggested it on the grounds that it really wouldn't be a good idea to face Voldemort on anything less than a full night of sleep if it could be helped.

However, the potion didn't work as well as he hoped, and when he woke up at five in the morning, there was no way for him to get back to sleep, as McGonagall had only given him enough of the potion for one dose.

He lay awake in his dorm-bed for a few seconds before deciding that staring at the dark ceiling was a rather useless way to spend his time, and got out of bed. He whispered Ron's name to find whether he was awake too, and was actually rather surprised that he was not. Even though Ron was not going to have to face Voldemort personally, he had a lot riding on the outcome of the battle, as did all other witches and wizards, and Harry would have thought that would've been enough to keep him awake.

Harry made his way down to the common room, where he was pleased, and not too surprised, to find Ginny.

"What're you doing up?" he asked.

"What do you think?" she asked with an eye-roll.

"Er... thinking of things you can do to get back at Fred and George for all the pranks they played on you while you were growing up?" guessed Harry.

Ginny grinned. "No. But let me know if you think of anything particularly clever," she advised.

"Of course. Now will you tell me why you're up?" he asked.

She grinned again. "Oh, you know... turnips."

"Turnips?" he asked quizzically.

"Yes, and how I've never quite had a clear idea of _what_, exactly, a turnip is. I mean, I'm vaguely aware that it's a type of vegetable. But how does it taste? What does it look like? What are its turn-ons and astrological sign?" she asked.

Harry laughed. "Age-old questions, those," he said.

"So you don't know the answers?" she asked, in a tone of mock disappointment.

"Unfortunately, no," he said, still grinning.

"Now I'll _never _get to get to bed!" she said, throwing her arms into the air in a very good impression of desperation.

Harry transitioned seamlessly into talking about the real reason she was awake. "You know I'll be all right, don't you?" trying very hard to sound sure of himself.

"Of course," she said with a bit of friendly sarcasm. "I, like you, am up precisely because I am not worried about this upcoming battle at all."

"Ah. Good then," said Harry. "I suppose you can't help convince _me _that I'll be all right, can you?"

"If you need me to, I can," said Ginny.

"I know that I've prepared in pretty much every way possible," said Harry. "But it's still hard to be sure of myself. Neither of my parents was ever able to kill him, and they were both really talented. And of course, no one _else _has ever been able to kill him either."

"You're not trying to kill him, you're just trying to cast the pathei emou curse. And the Horcruxes are gone now. They prevented anyone from killing him before," Ginny said.

"Yes, but no one's ever been able to cast the Pathei Emou spell on him either. And the Horcruxes don't really matter all that much, considering that the only time _they _mattered was when the killing curse bounced off of me. And that was kind of a one time deal, from what I understand," Harry said, reciting the train of thought that he had been going through many times over the past few days, in moments of self-doubt.

"There's the prophecy," said Ginny.

"Yeah, and what that says is that one of us must kill the other. Really, that same fact would've been true about any of the hundreds of other people he killed. It's just that he keeps winning. And he could do the same with me," said Harry.

Ginny seemed to be having trouble coming up with any more arguments, but eventually she got one. "Well... You remember what Hermione was saying the other night, right? Maybe no one's ever been clever enough to use the spell she was talking about."

"That spell would only help if Voldemort acted predictably," said Harry.

"But I reckon he will," said Ginny. "Don't you?"

"Yes," said Harry. "Yes, I suppose I do."

"Well... And besides, it doesn't matter that no one else has been able to beat him before. You're not anyone else, you're you. You've done some amazing things already, and this will just be one more," said Ginny, sounding actually somewhat convinced.

"If you believed that, you'd be able to sleep," countered Harry.

"I'm only nervous because my stupid mind won't stop doubting what I know to be true. Deep down, I know you can beat him. I know you have to. And I know you will. And Harry, I want you to know, that even though I really am very nervous right now, it's just because my mind isn't quite prepared for what it will mean when you actually do win. Can you imagine, Harry? Ever since you came back from the graveyard after the Tri-wizard tournament and told us that Voldemort was back on the rise, I've been afraid for you all the time. And afraid for myself, and afraid for my family, and afraid for my friends. Hell, I've been afraid for wizards I hadn't even met and muggles who I just knew didn't deserved to be tortured and killed by Voldemort and his followers. But Harry, when you win this, I won't have to be scared anymore. And I won't have to worry about you so much. But Harry, no matter how much I worry, I just need you to know, I believe in you."

And he could tell that she was telling the truth. Even after that realization, he was still, naturally, quite nervous about the task at hand. But beneath it all, there was a level of confidence. If Ginny believed in him, that was enough for him.

It had been determined that there would have to be a guard of Witches and Wizards to take Harry to Voldemort's lair. Even though Malfoy might have been right in surmising that Voldemort wouldn't mind letting Harry into his lair for a quick round of dueling which he no doubt expected to be able to win, that didn't meant they could guarantee that there wouldn't be guards. And it really wouldn't do to have Harry be captured on the _approach _to Voldemort's hide-out.

At eight o' clock that night, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny had gone to McGongall's office to wait for the rest of the guard, who would be arriving there shortly. Ginny would not be coming, but was allowed to wait in the office with them anyway. As far as the timing was concerned, Harry had at first thought that deciding to go at night was a bit odd, but he determined that it did seem kind of fitting. And once he was in Voldemort's lair, it wouldn't much matter if it was dark or light outside anyway. Besides, night was the time when the Death-eaters did most of their dirty-work, so they reckoned that if there was ever a chance to sneak into the dwelling without him there and take him by surprise, then nighttime would be it.

As they sat in the office waiting for the other guards to come along, Harry reflected on how painfully slow the day had gone to that point. At one point, Harry had even suggested that they study to keep his mind off his nerves. It hadn't worked, and they'd had to stop since none of them could concentrate, but the point was that he'd had to stoop so low as to suggest it in the first place.

At any rate, Harry decided, he would be glad when this was all over.

Shacklebolt entered the office. Moments later, so did Lupin and Tonks.

"Well then," said McGonagall after Lupin and Tonks had arrived. "I suppose it's time for us to be going, then."

Harry was just getting up to leave when he noticed Gryffindor's sword, which was still sitting where it had been kept for as long as Harry could remember. It had helped him to foil Voldemort before, or at least a portion of his soul, and for some reason, he had a strong feeling that he should take it with him now.

Although he felt stupid even saying so, he shared this opinion with McGonagall, even though it had nothing to do with the plan that he and Hermione had discussed for taking down Voldemort.

"Maybe you should take it, then," said McGonagall seriously. "Sometimes very powerful magical objects can exert a will of their own on people. And considering that this is a relic of Gryffindor's, I'd say its intentions are benign. Of course, we don't expect that you'll end up using it, but perhaps having it in the room will distract Voldemort, or turn the battle in some other way."

So Harry buckled the scabbard around his waist.

As they prepared to leave the room, Ginny hugged Hermione and Ron, and gave Harry a long kiss. "Hurry back, then," said Ginny, who was apparently refusing to say good-bye, on the grounds that doing so would be to acknowledge that he might not be coming back. In spite of that, she did say, "And remember, Harry, I love you."

"I love you, too," said Harry.

They had managed to get a port-key made for an area that was only about a half-mile from the cave which contained Voldemort's hide-out, and they vanished directly from the room, with Ginny being left all alone to find her way back to the Gryffindor common-room and a very lonely night.

With the directions that Malfoy had given Harry and McGonagall, they were able to make their way to the cave that was supposed to have Voldemort's hide-out in it. As they traveled down the cave, Harry became more and more nervous, tensing for a battle at the entrance to his residence. However, once they reached it, Harry discovered that this part of the evening, at least, was an anti-climax.

When they stopped in front of the door, which was shaped like a huge, but closed, snake's head, the seven witches and wizards eyed each other nervously.

"So it all comes down to this, then," Tonks pointed out.

"Harry, we know you can do this," said Lupin.

"Just remember everything we've taught you," said McGonagall.

"You'll do fine," reassured Shacklebolt.

"You know we'd come in with you if we could, mate," said Ron. "But I have a feeling that if anybody but you tried to go in, that damn snake would probably eat them."

"I reckon you're right," said Harry.

"Well, anyway," said Ron, seemingly not knowing what else to say, but apparently sensing that he should say something. "You'll beat him, Harry."

Hermione gave a sigh, "Look, I know you two don't normally hug, but... Honestly, Ron! This is your best friend's most stressful moment ever, give him a hug!"

Harry and Ron grinned sheepishly at each other. Ron gave Harry a look that said, "I'm sorry, mate, but Hermione said so" before giving him a hug.

Hermione hugged him next and said, "Remember the plan, but of course, if you think of anything better, do that. And Harry, I know this is going to be tough, but just try to relax a bit. If you're too stressed out to concentrate, you'll not make this any easier."

"Trust me, I think I'm as calm as I'm going to get under the circumstances," replied Harry.

There was silence. Harry was vaguely conscious that there was a possibility that the next words he said might be the ones the world remembered him by. But then again, he wasn't sure if he would care what a world where he had lost to Voldemort would remember anyway, so he reckoned it wasn't worth being stressed over.

"You guys have been my friends and my best teachers. What I'm about to do reflects you as much as it does me. And on _that _note, I'll see you in about... Twenty minutes."

With that, he focused on the snake's head so that he would be able to speak in parsel-tongue. Then, he said, "Open," knowing that the others heard only hissing.

The snake's jaw opened wide, revealing sharp fangs, between which an entry-way was situated.

As Harry stepped through the entrance, he concentrated on keeping his mind closed while also thinking about Ginny. The latter, in addition to preparing him to perform the spell, also had a calming effect which was much appreciated.

Malfoy's directions had ceased to be of any use once Harry had stepped into the snake's mouth, which had closed once again behind him. He realized that he was walking where no man save Voldemort had ever walked before. The thought made him shiver involuntarily.

Harry had his wand at the ready, but he had not yet spotted Voldemort. Instead, he was in a corridor which was dark except for several torches lining the sides. The corridor ended in a doorway with no knocker, but only a knob. Harry reflected for a moment as to how ironic it would be if the door was locked and he couldn't get through.

Once he had made his way to the door, Harry took a couple of deep breaths while working up the courage to open it. If all went well, he knew, he would be facing the worst Dark Wizard of his age as soon as he opened the door.

He had not brought his invisibility cloak along, as McGonagall, and Harry himself, expected that Voldemort could probably see through invisibility cloaks. Dumbledore had been able to, and it was likely that, if Voldemort didn't have the power already, Snape had probably sent him some of the potion which he had brewed in the Neglected Northlands.

Finally, he had turned the doorknob and flung the door wide before he even had time to properly register that it had not, in fact, been locked. He had thrown it open so quickly because he had wanted to give Voldemort as little notice as possible that he was opening the door, even though he reckoned that whatever security measures Voldemort had in place might very well render the practice futile.

Sure enough, when Harry got a good look through the open doorway, he realized that he was standing face to face with Lord Voldemort.

"Why, if it isn't Harry Potter," said Voldemort. His words were benign enough, but his voice was venomous. Harry could have gotten a spell off in the time that it took him to say that, but Harry reckoned that he would only have blocked it, or, in the case of the Pathei Emou curse, been quick enough to dodge it. And, according to Hermione's plan, which Harry still thought was clever enough to put into action, required him to get Voldemort angry, if he could, but to keep him from being scared.

So he was going to let Voldemort take the lead for a bit, and if that meant having a conversation with him, then so be it.

"How cunning of you to notice," said Harry sarcastically.

"Do you really think you can win this?" asked Voldemort, apparently trying to judge just how stupid this Potter kid was.

"Yes, Tom Riddle, I rather think I can," said Harry. This was part of the making Voldemort furious part of the plan, and it worked about how it was meant to.

"Cruciatus," said Voldemort, pointing the wand directly at Harry.

Harry, however, felt no pain, since he had, as per Hermione's suggestion, decided cast the spell which Hermione had taught them at the beginning of second term to make their bodies impervious to pain. It turned out that when she had taught them that spell, she had already been thinking ahead to Harry's encounter with Voldemort, reckoning it would be the perfect spell for such an occasion. Oftentimes, Harry was still amazed by how bright Hermione actually was.

In spite of the fact that he did not feel the effects of the spell, he couldn't let Voldemort know this right away, so he crumbled to the floor and writhed, though he was careful to keep hold of his wand. After taking a quick second to gloat over the fact that Voldemort, much as they had predicted, was apparently unable to resist from torturing his victims before killing them, Harry focused on Ginny.

The dark and eerie feeling that had struck Harry ever since he realized how close he was to Voldemort completely disappeared as his thoughts were filled with the memory of that night when he had fallen asleep with and been woken up by Ginny. As he lay there on the cold ground of the cave, writhing in imaginary pain, he could almost feel her warmth and hear her laugh.

Harry had managed throughout all of this to keep an eye on Voldemort, and noticed that he had neither moved his wand or changed his facial expression, as he probably would have done if he had lifted the spell.

Still, he reckoned that there was no point in putting off the casting of the spell for any longer than he actually needed to, so with a deep breath, he put the final phase of the plan into action.

All in a period of less than a second, Harry stopped writhing, made sure his wand was properly aimed, and shouted "Pathei Emou!"

Voldemort's face was immediately contorted with shock. Then, the spell hit. He dropped his wand. Then, his facial expression changed into one which indicated more of a mix of disgust and physical pain than anything else.

The spell had worked.

A feeling of relief like none he'd ever known immediately washed over Harry, in spite of how tired the casting of the spell had made him feel. After his years of terror, Voldemort had finally been outdone by his own overconfidence in believing that he had time to torture his enemies. If he had only been more careful and realized that Harry was the sort of person who you made sure you'd properly disarmed before torturing, he might still have had a shot.

There was silence for a few seconds before Voldemort said, "Kill me."

Harry was shocked by this for only a second. And then there was a moment when he believed that the effects of the love curse might have made Voldemort realize how horrible all the things he had done really were.

But then, Voldemort continued, saying, "I refuse to fall captive to my enemies."

Harry should have known better to think that Voldemort, with his fraction of a soul, could still feel guilt. He may have been temporarily disabled from performing any harmful magic on Harry, but he still didn't wish he hadn't performed such magic in the past.

"Death's too good for you," said Harry, remembering that Dumbledore had said the same thing to Voldemort just two years before, when they were dueling in the building of the Ministry of Magic. Harry wondered whether there might be a spell in existence that would somehow make Voldemort feel all the guilt which he so deserved to feel.

Then something quite unexpected happened. Voldemort, in spite of the fact that his facial expression still showed that he was quite in emotional pain from the spell, picked up his wand. Before Harry, who had been a bit off his guard, even had time to react, Voldemort pointed his wand at Harry and pronounced "Imperio."

Harry was emotionally drained from everything else that already had happened that evening, and especially from the casting of the Pathei-Emou spell, which certainly did drain a lot of emotion, and magical power, from the caster.

Given how tired he was, Harry didn't even have the requisite emotional fortitude to fight the orders which Voldemort gave him, especially given that they were not of any harm to him personally.

As Harry looked on, without control of his own body, his arm drew the sword of Gryffindor, which had still been held in the hilt strapped to his waist. As Harry watched in amazement, the sword of Gryffindor slew the heir of Slytherin.

A/N: Ok, so... at one point I had been debating whether just to end the story there. But, I think that I ought to at least finish the year out, even though the plot is basically finished at this point, considering the villain is dead and all... So... I think this chapter deserves reviews... But... It probably won't get very many, just because I'm going to try really hard to get the next chapter up tomorrow (as in... Friday night or Saturday morning)... In other words, if you happen to come across this chapter before the last one comes up, you really ought to review!


	30. End of Term

Chapter 30:

End of Term

Voldemort was dead, and now all that Harry wanted to do was get engaged to Ginny the first moment he saw her, but he ought to have known that in his world, nothing was so simple as all that. Harry noted with some embarrassment that he didn't technically have a ring for her, but this would turn out to be the least of his problems. He had gathered from passing conversations throughout the years that the engagement ring was not quite as big of a deal in the Wizarding world as it was in the muggle one. Usually, the guy in the relationship did get the woman an engagement ring, but unlike with muggles, the wizard often decided that it would be more simple to get engaged first and let the witch pick out the ring once she had already agreed to accept it, as she would probably know quite a bit more than the wizard about the topic of jewelry.

Besides, it was worth whatever amount of breaking with tradition Harry would have to do to accomplish his goal of asking Ginny to marry him almost immediately after he had defeated Voldemort. In his mind, it would be perfect timing, even though he knew they would probably not have the ceremony until a bit over a year later, once Ginny had properly finished with school. Still, Harry knew that, of all witches, Ginny would be one of the most unconcerned with whether or not she had already gotten a ring.

Thoughts of Ginny were partially obscured, if only for just a moment, by the celebration that erupted outside Voldemort's lair once the snake's head had opened again to allow them to see Harry, who was levitating the corpse of Voldemort behind him.

The first reactions of each of them were somewhat fun to watch.

Lupin grinned. Tonks smiled widely as if she'd known all along that this would happen. Shacklebolt nodded in a way that suggested that this all made a whole lot of sense to him, as well. McGonagall looked primarily as if she was feeling exceptionally relieved. Hermione let out a small gasp, almost as if she'd been holding her breath for the whole time Harry had been in the cave. Ron, however, gave out a shout as if he were a spectator at a Quidditch match.

"All right Harry!" he shouted. "You did it! You killed-" there was a moment of hesitation here but then Ron shouted, "Voldemort! You killed Voldemort!"

"Congratulations on saying the name," said Harry.

"Ah well," said Ron, "there's no point being scared of a dead man, is there?"

"I guess not," Harry said.

Hermione was the first one to ask the question that he imagined everyone must be wondering. "You decided to kill him with the sword, then?" The fact that he had been killed by the sword instead of a wand was quite obvious due to the fact that there was so much blood staining Voldemort's cloak. Wands, of course, didn't produce bloodshed, except when certain specific curses were used.

"Actually, no" said Harry. "He did it himself. He put me under the Imperius Curse."

McGonagall nodded. "I rather expected he might not allow himself to be captured. And he was still able to use the Imperius curse, because hate isn't necessary to produce that one, and he wasn't doing it to harm you."

Hermione and Ron still looked a bit concerned that Harry had been under the control, however briefly, of the now-dead dark lord. "Why didn't you counter the curse?" asked Ron.

"I was too exhausted, after using the love-spell," answered Harry.

"Wow, it's a good thing that you didn't have to fight anyone else in there with him, then," said Hermione.

"Yes, yes it is," admitted Harry, who, frankly, still felt quite tired.

"I can't believe the war's finally over!" said Ron.

Harry knew that this might be a bit of an oversimplification. There were still Death-eaters, after all. Although they would probably dissipate almost entirely rather quickly, especially since this time there was a body which could prove that Voldemort really was dead.

"I guess this means the curse of the Defense Against the Dark Arts professors is over now, too," said Shacklebolt. "It looks like I'll actually be able to come back next year."

"You reckon we should apparate back to Hogwarts, then?" asked Harry. The others seemed like they were ready to start their celebration right there, at the entrance to Voldemort's lair. But he personally would rather celebrate somewhere closer to Ginny.

"Yes, we might as well," agreed McGonagall.

McGonagall took over the task of levitating the corpse of Voldemort behind them. Harry briefly wondered what would be done with the body. Would it be set in public display to prove to the wizarding world that the enemy of decency was finally dead? Or would it be given a proper burial, leaving the rest of the Wizarding population to go on faith?

However, Harry decided that, for once, he would be able to let some decisions regarding Voldemort be made without him.

Once they had apparated back to Hogsmeade, McGonagall said, "I'm going to take Voldemort to the Ministry so that Moody can decide what to do with him. The rest of you, go back up to the castle. I won't tell you not to tell anyone what's happened, but... refrain from personally waking anyone up, if you can help it. There will be plenty of time for celebration in the morning.

The walk back up to the castle was quite a raucous one. Everyone seemed to erupt into relieved laughter at regular intervals. Harry wasn't quite sure what the rest of them were laughing about, but he knew why he was laughing. He kept realizing that he had finally fulfilled the prophecy, and he wasn't dead. And the fact that he kept being so amazed at the revelation that he was not dead struck him, for some reason, as quite hilarious.

"You know what's really kind of funny, Harry?" asked Tonks, when everyone had temporarily quieted down. "In two weeks, you're going to have to start taking your N.E.W.T.s so that you can become an auror. You just killed Voldemort, and you've still got to pass your NEWTs before the ministry can let you start Auror training."

"Hey, these two helped, too. And Ginny did, too," Harry pointed out.

"So modest," Ron pointed out. This, for some reason, seemed funny to everyone, too, more because of their excellent spirits than because of any actual humor content.

"Anyway, I don't think passing the NEWTs will be any problem now. I mean... We defeated Voldemort, we can pass a handful of tests," said Harry.

"We shouldn't get overconfident," said Hermione. And the fact that Hermione, the girl who would no doubt get the highest NEWT scores of the decade, was saying that actually _was_ relatively funny, so they all laughed even harder than before (even Hermione, who couldn't fail to see the humor there, as hard as she might try).

When they got up to the castle, it became quickly apparent that waking people up would turn out to be a non-issue. The first thing that happened when they opened the door was that Nearly-Headless-Nick asked, "Where are you lot getting back from. Does this have something to do with You-Know-Who?"

Harry glanced at the others quickly, but then decided that there was really no reason to keep any of this secret. "Yes. He's dead," said Harry.

"Really?" asked Nearly-Headless-Nick, who's demeanor was at this point as close to happy as Harry had ever seen him.

Everyone in the group nodded. "We even saw the body," pointed out Tonks.

"How did it happen?" asked Nick.

"I put him under the Pathei Emou curse, then he put me under the Imperius curse, and made me use Gryffindor's sword to kill him," said Harry. Since his mission had been accomplished, there was now no reason for him to keep the whole plan secret anymore.

"Why would he do that?" asked Nick, who had apparently never heard of Pathei Emou before.

"The Pathei Emou spell meant that he couldn't do anything to hurt me... He knew it was either kill himself, or be captured. Apparently, he chose the former," said Harry.

"Oh, well, everyone must know about this," pointed out Nearly-Headless-Nick, and he quickly began floating in the direction of Gryffindor Tower.

"No, wait!" said Hermione, who apparently intended to keep McGonagall's orders of not waking anyone up.

"Don't worry about it, Hermione," advised Ron with a laugh. "She just told _us_ not to wake anyone up. She said nothing about stopping ghosts from waking anyone up. Besides, don't you think everyone deserves to know?"

"I suppose," conceded Hermione.

"I'm going up to Gryffindor Tower," said Harry, who was still hoping that he might be able to catch Ginny, who was no doubt still waiting for them to return, before anyone else would be around. Maybe then they would be able to have a private conversation, in which he would be able to ask her to marry him. He supposed that he would technically be able to ask her in front of everyone else, but to him it just seemed more like a marriage proposal should take place in private.

But he was beginning to understand, as he was followed by Ron, Hermione, Tonks, Lupin, and Shacklebolt, that he would probably not get much of an opportunity to be alone with anybody for awhile.

Before they even got to their own common-room, he noticed Peeves, who had apparently encountered Nearly Headless Nick on his way back to the Gryffindor Common Room. He was singing a song that he had apparently just come up with, in honor of Voldemort's recent passing.

"Harry Potter killed the dark Lord,

Impaled him on Gryffindor's sword,

And I can see nothing wrong with it,

Since the Dark Lord was kind of a git!"

Harry smiled as he realized that, apparently, even Peeves could find no fault with what he had done. No doubt, he was off to wake up the students in the houses other than Gryffindor to tell them of the news, in terms as loud as possible.

When Harry, Ron, Hermione, and the others made it to the Common Room, it was obvious that Nearly Headless Nick had made it there several minutes beforehand. This was odd, because Harry hadn't really been aware that ghosts could move that much faster than a person's walking pace. About fifteen people had already made it down to the common room, apparently trying to figure out whether Nearly Headless Nick's news was accurate.

With all the people down there, most of them attempting to question Harry as soon as he came into the room, Harry actually had a bit of a hard time finding Ginny at first. When he did find her, he ran over and gave her a hug and a kiss, ignoring for a moment all the people who were asking him whether he had killed Voldemort and how he had done it.

Ron and Hermione simply told everyone that they had in fact seen Voldemort's dead body, but they apparently figured that Harry would be better equipped to tell everyone how exactly it had happened.

Harry, of course, was much more concerned with the prospect of how to get Ginny alone. He still thought that asking her to marry him in front of all these people would be a little less than appropriate. It'd be quite a lot of pressure on her, even though Harry was almost completely sure that she would say yes. But in the back of his mind, he wondered whether she would think it was stupid to get engaged now when they would not actually get married until after Ginny was done with her own last year of school. If that was the case, Harry didn't want her to say yes just because he was asking her in front of everyone else.

So, he was beginning to contemplate whether he might somehow be able to get out of the room without being seen. He was beginning to wish he had his invisibility cloak with him.

People kept asking Harry to tell them exactly what had happened, and Harry kept trying to delay it, by saying that he needed a minute to gather his thoughts. This was true, although his thoughts were not really directed toward telling the story.

At one point, someone in the common room, which was now nearly filled with what seemed like everyone who was still attending Gryffindor House this year, suggested that everyone should move down to the Great Hall, and find a way to get the people from the rest of the Houses down there as well.

Harry assured everyone that everyone from the other houses had probably already heard the news from Peeves. And he decided to go along with the suggestion that they move down to the Great Hall. After all, even though it was now well past curfew, McGonagall could do nothing about it if the whole school ended up there, and she would most likely not care about it, given the recent death of Voldemort. His motive for going down to the Great Hall was the thought that it might somehow be possible for him to slip away with Ginny from the rest of the House on the way down.

This turned out to be impossible, since, not surprisingly, under the circumstances, everyone was keeping a close eye on Harry.

Once they got down to the Great Hall, they found most people from the rest of the Houses, as well as a few of the Professors, there already.

The rest of the school came in soon enough, and when McGonagall got there, she simply smiled. Apparently, she had left Voldemort's body with Moody, and he would figure out what to do with it.

Meanwhile, people were not letting up on the idea that Harry ought to reveal exactly how Voldemort had been killed. Ginny seemed eager to know as well, and it was eventually her nudging that convinced him to get up and tell how it had happened.

After he was done, the rest of the students seemed rather amazed, but mostly just relieved about the fact that the Dark Lord had just been toppled. Of course, none were as thrilled as Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione.

It took almost two hours before the rest of the students started taking enough of their attention from Harry that he was able to sneak off with Ginny to the Room of Requirement to ask her to marry him.

When they walked in, there was a nice bouquet of flowers on a love-seat. Harry handed the flowers to Ginny and they sat down on the love-seat.

Harry found himself oddly nervous at the prospect of actually proposing. He was starting to feel less confident that this was really such a great moment to propose. After all, they had been dating for just over a year, with one short break during that time, and the fact that Voldemort was now dead, and Harry was now largely safe, took away from the urgency of the situation.

"So, why'd you bring me here?" asked Ginny eagerly.

Harry wondered tentatively whether the eagerness was due to Ginny knowing what Harry was planning to ask.

"Well," said Harry, "after defeating Voldemort tonight, I can only really think of one way that I want to start my new life as a man free from the dictates of prophecies and mortal struggles with the most dangerous Dark Lord in history."

"If you say 'a quidditch game' or 'a quick snogging session,' I will actually hex you," cautioned Ginny, who was unable to contain a grin. By now, Harry had a strong feeling that Ginny did, in fact, know exactly what he was about to ask.

"Ginny, will you marry me?" he asked simply.

Ginny's reaction was, in fact, almost the same as it had been when she had been put under the Pathei Emou curse. "Of course, Harry," she said, as soon as she regained the ability to speak, (she had, for a moment, been rendered speechless).

"Wonderful," said Harry, who was rather relieved that Ginny had not unexpectedly turned him down or suggested that they wait.

"So... When do you suggest we should do it?" asked Ginny, in a way that suggested she would be open to pretty much any option he suggested.

"Well... You should finish school first," said Harry. "There'd be no reason to get married and then have you go back to school for another year, so we might as well wait until a year from now."

"Well..." said Ginny uncertainly. "If we were to get married soon, we could still have the summer together before I went back to school. But, I suppose having that first would only make the separation during the school year harder. So, I guess you're right."

"Yeah," agreed Harry. "I suppose it's going to be rather frustrating during the school year. We'll have Hogsmeade weekends of course, and maybe you'll be able to sneak out every once in awhile. I don't reckon that security will be so tight next year, with Voldemort out of the picture. But, I don't really want to think about next year, right now."

"Well... Next year before the marriage, anyway," said Ginny. "Oh, I can't believe we're going to get married! I mean... it's frustrating that it's going to take so long, but... At least I've got a date to look forward to... How about two weeks after my last day of school? That'll give us time to get prepared and whatnot, at the Burrow."

"Good idea," agreed Harry.

"You know," said Ginny, after thinking for a moment, "I'm actually kind of jealous of Ron and Hermione, right now... They're both done with school now... They can end up getting married before us, if they want to. Do you think they will?"

Harry wasn't quite sure how to answer that question, as he had been spending much more time recently thinking about his own relationship with Ginny than the relationship between his two best friends.

However, three days later, he was privy to Ron's opinion on the matter.

"I think I might ask Hermione to marry me," said Ron. This thought was not nearly out of the blue as it might seem, considering that Ginny had announced that Harry and she were engaged almost immediately after the engagement had occurred, and it had been a topic of conversation fairly often among Harry, Ron, and Hermione, during their study sessions in preparations for the NEWTs.

Hermione was the one who usually brought the topic up, and when she did, it seemed fairly obvious that she was a bit jealous of Ginny on the grounds of her engagement. At least, it was somewhat obvious to Harry, although he wasn't quite sure if Ron had picked up on it.

"Really?" asked Harry, who was unable to conceal that he was rather excited about that idea.

"Yeah... Do you think she'll say yes?" he asked. So, apparently he hadn't picked up on Hermione's hints.

"I'm almost sure of it," said Harry.

"Hmm..." said Ron. "I'll probably do it soon, then. I just need to work a little bit on what exactly I should say..."

"I'm sure whatever you say will be fine," said Harry sincerely.

"Still," said Ron. "I should still wait for a little bit."

During a conversation with Ginny later on that day, he asked her, "So... I'm right that Hermione would say yes if Ron asked her to marry him?"

"Why, did he say something about it?" asked Ginny excitedly.

Harry wondered for a moment whether telling Ginny this would be betraying Ron's confidence, but he reckoned that he could trust Ginny to not let it spread any further. Besides, he was asking Ginny to divulge whether Hermione had said anything about it as well. So, he said, "You can't tell Hermione."

"Of course I won't," said Ginny. "That's Ron's job... But seriously, what'd he say?"

"That he's thinking of asking her to marry him," said Harry. "Has Hermione said anything on the topic?"

"At least once a day since you proposed to me," affirmed Ginny. "She kind of wants to know what's taking him so long. She says they've gotten so close over the past year, being brought together by the fear that either of them could die, she thought he would ask her to marry him right when they stopped having to worry about that kind of thing so much."

"Well, you know, we're still kind of in danger... I mean, the rest of the death eaters could still try to kill us for revenge or something," said Harry.

"I really don't think that's why Ron hasn't asked her to marry him, yet," said Ginny. "Besides, I think after all we've been through, we can handle it if any Death Eaters try to take us on... Besides, their numbers have been rather depleted recently, and they'll probably lie low now for awhile... That's what they did when they thought Voldemort was dead the first time... And now we've got the body."

"True," said Harry.

It turned out that the beginning of NEWTs came before Ron's marriage proposal, and Hermione seemed quite annoyed about this. Harry had picked up on this because of how frustrated Hermione seemed during their study sessions in the week before the NEWTs. But, Harry wasn't too scared of Hermione's frustration. After all, he had faced Voldemort, so Hermione wasn't that much of a concern anymore.

Harry, as it turned out, had approximately the same attitude toward the NEWTs. He was pretty sure that he passed all the tests that he would need to in order to become an auror.

He was able to transfigure his quill into an almost perfect looking rat. His Defense Against the Dark Arts NEWT was not too taxing at all after the time he had spent researching for Dumbledore's Army. His Potions test was difficult, but he still thought he had done a more than passable job. Charms was also fairly easy for him. Even Ron came out of the tests pretty sure that he would be able to become an auror, and Hermione, of course, had done excellently, even though she wasn't quite confident of that fact herself. She was planning on trying to get a job at the Ministry for awhile, although she didn't see that as being a long-term career for her.

After the tests were over, there were only four days before the students were to leave the school. This time of year was normally supposed to be a very relaxing time of the year, and for Harry and Ginny, it was.

However, Ron and Hermione were each quite nervous and worked up until Ron finally plucked up all his Gryffindor courage and asked Hermione to marry him. It was the second to last day of term when he had finally done so, but afterwards, that day was perhaps the happiest day that the four teens had ever spent at Hogwarts.

At Hogwarts, there was no graduation ceremony as was standard at muggle high-schools. Since NEWT results had not been determined yet, there was no real guarantee that they had passed all their classes, so a graduation ceremony would have been out of place.

So, the closest thing that the Hogwarts students got to such a ceremony was the speech that McGonagall gave at the Year End feast.

"As you all know, this is the first time I've presided over a Year-end feast. I still feel as if I'm not quite suited for the job of Headmistress, but I feel that I have done as well as possible under the circumstances. Of course, we would all prefer very much if Dumbledore were still here to fill his usual role. But, I feel that I can speak for him in saying that he would have been very proud of all of you, if for no other reason than that you came to school and put forth your best effort while the world seemed to be going to hell around us. But now, we have made it through the hardest times that any of us will hopefully have to face. Those of you who are leaving this school today for the last time are leaving into a world full of hopes and possibilities. And those of you who are coming back to the school again will have a year that will be... if not normal, at least benignly abnormal. You have all shown that you have the strength to make it through the hard times, now I wish you all the best of luck as we start a new life of fresh possibilities."

The speech, Harry determined, was relatively good, but the feast was even better. After it was over, Ron, Hermione, and Harry prepared to leave Hogwarts for the final time as students.

It was a bittersweet time for Harry, as he had come to think of Hogwarts as his real home. But, as he left Hogwarts, with his arm around Ginny, he knew that he would soon start a new home with her.

For him, the end of next year could not come soon enough.

A/N: The end... I think I like the end of the last chapter more than I liked the ending of this one, but, oh well... I just posted the first chapter of my next fic, too... It's about the children of the various characters of the books, and I think it could be kind of interesting. So... If you liked how I handled this fic (which I assume you must have, if you got this far), then allow me to suggest that you read that, as well. Also... If you've gotten this far, you've spent a lot of time reading this, and so it really _wouldn't _take much time to review in addition. If you don't know what to say, just tell me what your favorite chapter was, or something. And, let me just say thanks to everyone who has read so far, and especially everyone who has reviewed, or put this story on alerts or on their favorites. Thanks!!! Also, special thanks to Wolf's Scream, who I believe has posted more reviews for this story than anyone else.


End file.
